Pfizer is starting a biotech hedge fund
Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, is going to try its hand at picking biotech stocks.
The New York pharma giant has set aside up to $500 million that it will invest in publicly traded companies with drugs in the clinic. Pfizer would take non-controlling stakes, and there’d be no strings attached. The program, called the Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative, would give companies access to the company’s scientists, clinicians, and manufacturing experts, if they want it.
The plan is to invest between $30 million and $100 million in each company, Pfizer said. And once the $500 million is spent, Pfizer will evaluate whether it wants to stay in the investing business.
Read more.
The New York pharma giant has set aside up to $500 million that it will invest in publicly traded companies with drugs in the clinic. Pfizer would take non-controlling stakes, and there’d be no strings attached. The program, called the Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative, would give companies access to the company’s scientists, clinicians, and manufacturing experts, if they want it.
The plan is to invest between $30 million and $100 million in each company, Pfizer said. And once the $500 million is spent, Pfizer will evaluate whether it wants to stay in the investing business.
Read more.
Lilly won a Covid-19 antibody race
Yesterday, Eli Lilly, working with the Canadian biotech AbCellera, became the first company to get an antibody treatment for Covid-19 into the clinic, beating competitors Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Vir Biotechnology.
As STAT's Matthew Herper reports, the news comes less than three months after Lilly and AbCellera first partnered to discover antibodies that would bind to a specific protein on the surface of the novel coronavirus. Regeneron and Vir have promised to get their competing treatments into the clinic this summer. Each of the companies expects to have preliminary data in the fall.
The first-to-clinic milestone won’t matter much if Lilly’s antibody doesn’t prove effective, but the mounting competition in the space could be problematic for Vir. As Baird analyst Madhu Kumar wrote in a note to investors, the company’s third-place status could create a "heads I lose, tails you win" situation. If Lilly and Regeneron’s antibodies work, there’ll be little demand for Vir’s. But if they fail, it would become quite unlikely that Vir’s similar project could possibly succeed.
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As STAT's Matthew Herper reports, the news comes less than three months after Lilly and AbCellera first partnered to discover antibodies that would bind to a specific protein on the surface of the novel coronavirus. Regeneron and Vir have promised to get their competing treatments into the clinic this summer. Each of the companies expects to have preliminary data in the fall.
The first-to-clinic milestone won’t matter much if Lilly’s antibody doesn’t prove effective, but the mounting competition in the space could be problematic for Vir. As Baird analyst Madhu Kumar wrote in a note to investors, the company’s third-place status could create a "heads I lose, tails you win" situation. If Lilly and Regeneron’s antibodies work, there’ll be little demand for Vir’s. But if they fail, it would become quite unlikely that Vir’s similar project could possibly succeed.
Read more.
What you missed at (virtual) ASCO
AstraZeneca’s stunning results in lung cancer were the talk of oncology’s biggest annual meeting, forced online by the coronavirus pandemic, but there was plenty to pick apart when it came to novel cancer treatments.
As STAT’s Adam Feuerstein reports, the first all-virtual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists was light on social interaction but weighty in terms of important data. The detailed data on AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso turned out to be more impressive than many experts expected. The Amgen drug that stole ASCO 2019 came through with middling results in colon cancer, and Allogene demonstrated the early promise of its off-the-shelf CAR-T.
But one of the most interesting narratives applies to a company that made little noise of its own at ASCO. Bluebird Bio, which has faced regulatory delays for its lead products, may have lost its lead in multiple myeloma. Johnson & Johnson’s CAR-T therapy for the blood cancer posted impressive results that could change the competitive dynamic in the field.
Read more.
As STAT’s Adam Feuerstein reports, the first all-virtual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists was light on social interaction but weighty in terms of important data. The detailed data on AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso turned out to be more impressive than many experts expected. The Amgen drug that stole ASCO 2019 came through with middling results in colon cancer, and Allogene demonstrated the early promise of its off-the-shelf CAR-T.
But one of the most interesting narratives applies to a company that made little noise of its own at ASCO. Bluebird Bio, which has faced regulatory delays for its lead products, may have lost its lead in multiple myeloma. Johnson & Johnson’s CAR-T therapy for the blood cancer posted impressive results that could change the competitive dynamic in the field.
Read more.
The remdesivir picture stays cloudy
Experts looking for some clarity on just how well remdesivir can treat Covid-19 got little help from the latest study, which adds to the evidence that Gilead Sciences’ treatment is effective but answers few outstanding questions.
As STAT’s Matthew Herper reports, a company-sponsored study found that patients with moderate disease recovered faster when they got five days of remdesivir. For patients who got the drug for 10 days, the improvement wasn’t statistically significant.
That’s hard to square with early remdesivir studies suggesting five days of the drug was just as effective as 10. And the latest results came via a press release containing top-line data, making it impossible to dig into the results. Until the latest data are published in full, doctors treating Covid-19 are left in a “gray area” when it comes to using remdesivir, said Nahid Bhadelia, medical director of the special pathogens unit at Boston Medical Center.
Read more.
As STAT’s Matthew Herper reports, a company-sponsored study found that patients with moderate disease recovered faster when they got five days of remdesivir. For patients who got the drug for 10 days, the improvement wasn’t statistically significant.
That’s hard to square with early remdesivir studies suggesting five days of the drug was just as effective as 10. And the latest results came via a press release containing top-line data, making it impossible to dig into the results. Until the latest data are published in full, doctors treating Covid-19 are left in a “gray area” when it comes to using remdesivir, said Nahid Bhadelia, medical director of the special pathogens unit at Boston Medical Center.
Read more.
More reads
- Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier: George Floyd ‘could be me.' (CNBC)
- Regeneron to expand development deal with Intellia Therapeutics. (MarketWatch)
- Gilead trades that made millions on COVID-19 drug news raise eyebrows. (Reuters)
- Moderna's coronavirus vaccine announcement set off a frenzy on Wall Street. Now some are calling for an investigation. (CNN)
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