Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s and AstraZeneca PLC’s three-step deal to acquire Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $7 billion reaffirms the partners’ commitment to the vast and growing type 2 diabetes market, despite intense competition and the mixed track record of their five-year-old alliance. It also underscores the importance to pharma of risk-sharing deals in tackling large therapeutic areas.
The deal puts a key diabetes franchise, Amylin’s first-in-class glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist (GLP-1) Byetta (exenatide) and its long-acting follow-on Bydureon, into the hands of two experienced, deep-pocketed partners that have worked jointly in diabetes since 2007. It also puts more pressure on existing and future competition. [See Deal] Chief rival Novo Nordisk AS will need to dig in its heels that much harder to maintain the market leadership of its own GLP-1 Victoza (liraglutide)
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