Re: GENZ buys rights to Campath for MS from Bayer AG
I wonder if the recent news about a potential treatment for PML had an impact on the purchase decision?
I don't think it's the IPLEX since the main safety issue for Campath, which also caused a clinical hold in 2005 has been ITP not PML. Perhaps the faster than expected completion of enrollment in the first phase III Campath in naive MS patients had something to do with it.
Genzyme Corp., advancing a strategy to expand beyond its base of expensive treatments for rare diseases, acquired the rights for a promising multiple-sclerosis drug from Bayer AG.
The Massachusetts-based biotechnology firm won't make any upfront payments to acquire the rights to Campath, but could end up paying out as much as $1.25 billion to Bayer if the drug becomes a big hit in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Genzyme and Bayer previously had a deal to jointly develop the drug, but the marketing and commercialization rights were Bayer's. Bayer will continue to pay for one-third of the development costs, a spokesman for Genzyme said.
Campath is already approved for the treatment of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. As part of the deal, Genzyme is also acquiring two other cancer drugs from Bayer, named Fludara and Leukine. Genzyme will pay a maximum of $650 million over eight years for the oncology rights to Campath and for the acquisition of the two other cancer drugs. As part of the deal, Genzyme will also pay $75 million to $100 million for a Seattle-area facility that will make Leukine.
Genzyme is best known for expensive biotech treatments that are used to treat rare, but often deadly disorders. Its best-selling drug, Cerezyme, is used by fewer than 6,000 patients who suffer from Gaucher's disease, a genetic disorder in which dangerous levels of fatty materials build up in organs. It can cost as much as $200,000 a year.
Genzyme is expanding into other markets at a time when high drug prices are under attack. There is growing support in Washington to pass new rules allowing for less-expensive, generic versions of the complex biotech drugs made by Genzyme and other companies.
"On the MS side, this allows us to gain access to a large and growing market," said Mark Enyedy, who heads up Genzyme's oncology and multiple-sclerosis businesses. He said estimates put the multiple-sclerosis market at $12 billion a year by 2012, when Campath is expected to enter the marketplace, assuming it wins Food and Drug Administration approval.
Mr. Enyedy said Genzyme was excited by midstage clinical trial data showing Campath is more effective in reducing relapses for multiple-sclerosis patients than an existing therapy and that some patients showed neurological improvements—something not seen with other drugs. The drug is now in two final-stage clinical trials that are expected to serve as the basis for an application to the FDA to market the treatment. Campath is administered by an infusion.
One analyst wondered why Bayer would give up rights to such a promising product for what he described as the low price of $1.25 billion over 10 years. "This could indicate that Bayer does not share Genzyme's enthusiasm for the program," wrote Geoffrey Meacham of J.P. Morgan in a note to investors.
Last year, Genzyme entered into a licensing deal to secure partial rights to a cholesterol-lowering drug in development.
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