Biogen Inc. has made a lot of early initiatives in gene therapy but nothing concrete has come out of the effort. The most notable setback has been a delay getting a gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) into the clinic, while rival Novartis AG has gotten its SMA gene therapy AVXS-101 all the way to the FDA. Novartis acquired its gene therapy with the $8.7bn acquisition of AveXis Inc. last April, a deal some Biogen investors wished at the time that the big biotech had done instead, since AVXS-101 will be a threat to Biogen's own Spinraza (nusinersin). (Also see "Biogen's SMA Ambitions Run Up Against A New Deep-Pocketed Rival" - Scrip, 9 April, 2018.)
J.P. Morgan Notebook Day 2: Biogen, GSK, Bluebird, Roche, Amgen, Biohaven, Lilly And FDA's Gottlieb
Daily round-up of news and notes from the 2019 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco: Biogen may be looking for gene therapy partner, Lilly CEO says Loxo is just the start, GSK plays up its BCMA, Amgen vows to put money into deals, Biohaven readies oral CGRP inhibitor to compete, and Roche talks value-based payments.
More from Strategy
• By
AstraZeneca remains committed to investing in R&D and alliances in China, where Susan Galbraith, the UK major’s head of oncology R&D, sees innovation eventually reaching parity with the US and Europe.
• By
The US FDA approved anti-CD19 antibody Uplizna, from Amgen’s $27.8bn purchase of Horizon in 2023, for IgG4-related disease – a larger market than its original NMOSD indication.
• By
BeiGene’s Phase III ociperlimab joins the list of failed TIGIT inhibitors, as candidates from Roche, Merck & Co. and others have failed late-stage studies.
• By
The German firm’s chairman, Hubertus von Baumbach, is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the threat of pharma tariffs.
More from Business
• By
The German firm’s chairman, Hubertus von Baumbach, is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the threat of pharma tariffs.
• By
Trump announced a 26% reciprocal tariff on India but a country-agnostic exemption of pharmaceuticals implies that the interests of Indian firms and the US consumer are protected for now. What is Indian pharma’s business exposure and what is domestic industry saying?
• By
Industry lobbied for pharmaceuticals to be exempt from Trump’s sweeping US tariffs and the effort appears to have paid off. J&J, Lilly and Merck & Co. even got shout outs.