Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

MNTA: Why is M118 not like ZGEN’s Recothrom, i.e. a fine drug that won’t be able to garner a premium price?

Good question, bladerunner (the above is a paraphrase, not your actual words).

The difference between the two cases is a matter of degree, but the degree is large.

Let’s take the Recothrom case first. The safety-related impetus for docs to switch from bovine (or human) thrombin to ZGEN’s recombinant Recothrom is mostly theoretical; i.e., few docs have ever witnessed a case where bovine thrombin caused an allergic reaction that led to an adverse outcome. (xrymd, an MD who posts on this board, confirmed this in prior threads on this board and predicted before the launch that Recothrom would be a very tough sell.)

On the other hand, almost anyone who has worked with unfractionated heparin in the ACS setting has seen many cases where UFH led to serious bleeding incidents. Moreover, if UFH were an adequate drug, Lovenox would not have sales of $4B per year (#msg-37390328).

In short, I’m certain that M118 will not turn out to be Recothrom Part Deux, but it was astute of you to ask. Regards, Dew