Amgen will gain entry into the diabetes market with the addition of a clinical stage dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor as part of the acquisition of Alantos Pharmaceuticals. Marking its second purchase in three days, Amgen announced it will acquire the privately held, Cambridge-Mass.-based Alantos for $300 million June 6.

Alantos' lead drug candidate is the DPP-4 inhibitor ALS 2-0426, which entered into Phase IIa studies in May for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Early studies have suggested that ALS 2-0426 is potent, highly selective and can be administered once per day, according to the company.

High selectivity could offer an advantage because the drug will need to demonstrate a significant efficacy benefit to differentiate itself from competitors on the market. By the time ALS 2-0426 could launch, there will already likely be at least two established DPP-4s on the market, Merck's Januvia (sitagliptin), approved in October, and Novartis' Galvus (vildagliptin), currently pending at FDA after the agency issued an "approvable" letter (¹ Also see "Galvus “Approvable” Letter Requests Additional Study In Renal Failure Patients" - Pink Sheet, 26 February, 2007.).

The Alantos acquisition, along with the addition of Ilypsa, a deal Amgen announced June 4, will give the company an opportunity to diversify its portfolio, which is heavily centered on anemia treatments Aranesp and Epogen , whose safety has come under scrutiny.

The addition of Alantos will also give Amgen an earlier-stage pipeline candidate, the metalloprotease inhibitor MMP-13, which is being studied for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Amgen said it intends to pursue development of the MMP program.

Alantos is partnered on ALS 2-0426 with Servier outside of the U.S. The company inked a $75 million licensing deal with the French pharmaceutical firm in October (² Also see "Alantos Joins DPP-4 Hunt With Help From France’s Servier" - Pink Sheet, 24 October, 2006.).

Amgen plans to acquire Ilypsa for $420 million in a deal that will strengthen the firm's portfolio of treatments for chronic kidney disease with a candidate, ILY1010, that has completed Phase II for the treatment of hyperphosphatermia in CKD patients on hemodialysis (³ Also see "Amgen Gains Phase II Phosphate Binder With Acquisition of Ilypsa" - Pink Sheet, 5 June, 2007.).

In May, Amgen announced it would set aside $1 billion from a $3.98 billion debt offering for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions and licensing.

-Jessica Merrill (j.merrill@elsevier.com)

Amgen’s Second Acquisition In Three Days Is Alantos

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