201 Deal Value1 Oct 2021 06:55
‘In terms of development stage, drug licensing deal volume has been largest at the discovery stage in recent years, and that continued to be true in 2020 (Fig. 2). What was surprising in 2020 was the volume of activity around drugs in phase 1 of clinical development, with nearly twice as many phase 1 drug licensing deals signed in 2020 compared with 2019 (Biopharma Dealmakers B2–4, March 2020). Drugs in phase 1 achieved the highest average deal values ($842 million) and average upfront payments ($263 million) in 2020, where disclosed; however, the averages are inflated by the AstraZeneca/Daiichi Sankyo pact, which was the largest drug licensing deal in 2020, as discussed earlier. Drugs in phase 1 do not normally achieve such high price tags, but this deal follows a very successful collaboration between the two companies on trastuzumab deruxtecan, an ADC that was then in phase 2 and went on to demonstrate clinical success, gain regulatory approval, and is predicted to be a blockbuster by 2024, according to Clarivate. Removing the AstraZeneca/Daiichi Sankyo deal from the 2020 averages, phase 1 drugs achieved the lowest average upfront payments ($17 million) and total potential deal value ($198 million) in 2020, with the highest upfront payments achieved in the later stages of drug development and the highest total deal potential coming in the early discovery and preclinical stages, though those deals will be subject to numerous milestones (Fig. 2).
Oncology drug licensing values in 2020 by development phase
Fig. 2 | Oncology drug licensing values in 2020 by development phase. Development phase refers to the furthest status of any asset included in the deal at deal start. The greatest volume of transactions occurs at discovery stage, and the majority of these are for drug discovery platforms. The highest average deal values were achieved by assets in phase 1, where disclosed. Data are from Cortellis Deals Intelligence from Clarivate’
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d43747-021-00024-y
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