Replies to post #76488 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Afinitor, Torisel and other MTOR drugs are the product of a four-decade research odyssey. They are chemical variants of an antibiotic called rapamycin, which Wyeth researchers found in soil samples from Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean in the late 1960s.

I’m surprised the article neglected to mention that rapamycin (a/k/a sirolimus) was the drug used to coat the industry’s first drug-eluting stent: JNJ’s Cypher.

"This will be an important drug," swears Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella. Doing so many trials at once is a big bet, he says, but it is a rational bet, given the promising early results.

When speaking to investors, NVS spends more time talking about Afinitor than any other drug in the company’s portfolio or pipeline.