In April 2000, the biopharmaceutical company Abgenix faced the important strategic decision of how to most profitably commercialize its XenoMouse based high potential cancer product ABX-EGF, which had reached phase I clinical trials after having successfully passed preclinicals. Specifically, Abgenix had to choose among three salient alternatives for the route to market of ABX-EGF. These were: 1. Entering into a licensing agreement with “Big Pharma” Pharmacol, yielding a series of development fees as well as royalties of Pharmacol’s ABX-EGF sales. 2. Forming a joint venture with the biotech firm Biopart, equally sharing all future costs and profits. 3. Pursuing a “go-it-alone” strategy through the end of phase II …show more content…
sales force. Handing off ABX-EGF to Pharmacol Having $12 billion in sales in 1999, experience in marketing a wide array of drugs –including some already dealing with cancer— and a powerful sales force, licensing the Xenomouse to Pharmacol seemed to be the best option, knowing that, ultimately, Abgenix’ revenue would depend on ABX-EGF sales. Indeed, sales, if the drug succeeded past clinical phases II and III and got FDA approval, were forecast to reach $700 million a year in ten years, of which, Abgenix would get a 10% fee as perpetuity. Thus, although they had had no relationship with Pharmacol in the past, the company’s reputation and savoir-faire in drug marketing assured Abgenix a sturdy stream of revenues was the drug to reach the market. In addition to these royalty fees, Pharmacol would make some initial payments during clinical testing, which offset the potential risk of failure. In sum, handing off ABX-EGF was as risk-free an option as it gets. Even in the worst case scenario, with ABX-EGF not making it to phase III (as going into phase II was practically certain) Abgenix would still get some revenues. it was in line with its current business model and did not require from the company any other efforts in terms of marketing and sales. Establishing a joint venture with Biopart Relative to Pharmacol, Biopart is a small industry player, which is not able to carry out an equivalent marketing effort and thus
Biotech companies’ values are primarily driven by intellectual property, they do not need to rely much on their suppliers. These companies also have relatively easy access to sources of raw materials (such as chemicals), scientific tools, computers and testing equipment.
To balance these competing interests, Harvard agreed to receive an equity stake in the company, and Syndexa would pay Harvard a small up-front fee to license the patents that Hotamisligil had developed. For Syndexa one of the key parts of negotiations was centered on the research that the start-up intended to fund in Hotamisligil’s lab at Harvard. Harvard had major concerns with how the Syndexa-sponsored research will be separated from the other funds (government- or foundation-funded projects) that Hotamisligil receives. Harvard cannot funnel federally funded inventions to companies, however at the same time Syndexa was looking for assurance that they would have first crack at intellectual property for a technology that they funded. Another major issue extending negotiations was the conditions under which Syndexa would make royalty payments to Harvard for products that were not covered under Harvard patents, but discovered using Harvard technologies. To ensure that Harvard would receive a reasonable return on the patents it was licensing, Syndexa agreed to pay a small royalty rate if they developed a new therapeutic cure for diabetes using its Harvard license. Both parties agreed to the concept of an ‘identified product’, essentially a drug discovered through the use of patents, targets and assays being licensed from Harvard. Negotiations over what constituted an ‘identified product’ continued through the rest
U.S. based companies hold rights to most of the world’s rights on new medicines and holds thousands of new products currently being developed. As of 2012, the industry helps support almost 3.4 million jobs in the U.S. economy. It is also one of the most heavily R&D based industries in the world. In the United States, the environment for pharmaceuticals is much friendlier than other countries around the world in terms of pricing ability and regulations. Both the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries have experienced significant growth in the past year with year-over-year increases of 13.02% and 34.69% respectively. It is an even more striking when looking at the past five years considering both have beat out the S&P 500 with pharmaceuticals increasing an additional 31.44% and the biotechnology sector besting an astonishing 269.3% more return than the
In this case study, we deal with two separate agreements between SolvGen and Careway Pharma that are being audited for the possible sale of SolvGen to Direct Drugs, Inc. First, is the research and development agreement between SolvGen and Careway. And second, is the license and distribution agreement between the aforementioned. These agreements are both written and contractually binding and are within the scope of Multiple Deliverable Arrangements.
The agreement states Pharmagen will receive up to $500 million funding for R&D costs as they are incurred solely for the research efforts of a potential new drug “X”
The company is so large that no one drug can lift it from its current sales doldrums. In addition, the company was once highly attractive to investors, but its recent stock price fell to 1997 lows. This may put pressure on the company to attempt acquisitions at a time when the company is ill-equipped to integrate a new company into its organization, and it is engaged in a cost-cutting program at a time when it may need to invest even more in research and development (McTigue Pierce, 2005).
Extremely risky drug discovery and development, lengthening development times which increase development cost, return on investments, and generic competitors.
This opportunity led to several dealings that would result in Shire Pharmaceuticals purchasing the rights to Europe and Salix to
While this case is literally full of negative aspects, we will only focus on the main points for both arguments. Pharmaceutical companies want to be sure that the products they spend years and millions of dollars to create are not easily reproduced and sold at discount prices. The profits pharmaceuticals make of their patented products are supposed to refinance new research. So taking away their exclusive distribution rights and allowing other manufacturers to just copy the product and sell it at
The biotech firm Amgen Inc. gives much attention and time to the planning process. Because the outcomes for a company like Amgen are often very unsure and many employees are quite sceptical about the use of such a planning, the main issue can be described as follows:
The strategic implications for Vertex attempting to fund and develop four drugs are as following:
AbbVie partnerships are dedicated to important outcomes: one to develop an innovative medicines and delivering a remarkable impact on people’s life.
Achieve a median composite eight-year product development cycle by 2010. Deliver two new molecular entity (NME) launches on average per year from 2010. In order to achieve the above objective, ensure that we have 10 or more NMEs in Phase III development by 2010. Development cycle times and quality for small molecules and biologics. Number of NME launches per year. Attrition rates. Number of development projects by phase. Number of in-licensing deals, alliances and acquisitions. R&D investment levels. Improving R&D quality and speed through leading-edge science, effective risk management and decision-making and overall business efficiency. Maximising the value of our biologics business and continuing to build a major presence in this fast-growing sector. Investing in external opportunities to enhance our internal innovation through in-licensing, alliances and acquisitions. 2008 target exceeded for small molecule development cycle times. NME and life-cycle management progressions
Bayer AG is fully committed to expanding its business operations through pharmaceuticals, consumer health, and crop science. Bayer AG understands that in order for the company to successfully expand its Pharmaceuticals department they must properly invest in research, development, and marketing of innovative medicinal products. In addition, Bayer AG is developing clinical programs, which will enable the company to provide various of its products to a greater number of people. Bayer AG ability to identify areas in medicine that remain untapped is crucial to the firm’s long term sustainability. For example, Bayer AG has identified the fields of cardiology, oncology, gynecology, and
* To structure deal as joint venture, which would be an economical approach to entering the market with the access to the technology, cross-marketing and profits. May bring, however, the lack of control to achieving "Anywhere, Anytime" vision.