3 Drug Giants That Boasts the Best Pipelines
April 10, 2017
(Last Updated: April 11, 2017 at 03:20pm PT)
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
NEW YORK – The strength of a pharmaceutical company rests in its pipeline, not products currently available to consumers. And the companies with the strongest pipeline are Johnson & Johnson , Novartis and Roche , analyst Keith Speights wrote in The Motley Fool.
The depth of the pipelines set these companies apart from their peers, Speights said. In his latest column, Speights dives into some of the most promising candidates.
1. Johnson & Johnson
For pharma giant Johnson & Johnson , Speights points to its rheumatoid arthritis (RA) candidate sirukumab, which is under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If approved, sirukumab, which was co-developed with GlaxoSmithKline , is expected to generate about $1 billion in sales based on promising late stage studies. In addition to the RA treatment, J&J also has Darzalex in its pipeline. An anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, Darzalex was approved by the FDA last year to treat multiple myeloma patients who have received three or more prior therapies. J&J continues to work with Darzalex in late-stage studies to see if the drug could be used as a frontline treatment for multiple myeloma, Speights said. Johnson & Johnson has also picked up a number of experimental drug candidates in its $30 billion acquisition of Switzerland-based Actelion . A rare disease company, Actelion has two new drugs on the market that are expected to become blockbusters. But the company has experimental treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension and multiple sclerosis.
2. Novartis
A look at Novartis ’ pipeline shows more than 200 programs in clinical development, Speights said. A large number are studies of existing drugs for different indications, while there are some new molecular entities, he said. Because of some of its deal-making, including the acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s oncology portfolio, Swiss-based Novartis has a number of experimental cancer drugs awaiting regulatory approval.
Over the next few years, Novartis will seek to add the approval of new indications for some of its existing drugs. Speights pointed to the company seeking new indications for autoimmune disease drug Cosentyx, as well as cancer drug Jakavi. He also said Novartis will seek approval for new indications for eye-disease drug Lucentis, and leukemia drug Tasigna.
Novartis is also developing experimental treatments for non-small cell lung cancer, acute heart failure and Cushing’s disease, a form of Cushing’s syndrome that causes the release of too much adrenocorticotropic hormone.
3. Roche
Roche has a pipeline of about 150 clinical programs, but Speights noted that one of those drugs, Ocrevus used to treat multiple sclerosis, recently won regulatory approval from the FDA. That drug is expected to generate about $3 billion. Ocrevus is the first and only drug approved for both relapsing and primary progressive forms of MS, BioSpace previously reported.
Like Novartis, Roche is looking for new indications for approved drugs, including cancer drug Tecentriq, anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy, and cancer drug Venclexta.
Although there were some safety questions surrounding hemophilia drug emicizumab, the drug met its endpoints in a Phase III trial. In December, the company announced use of the drug in people 12 years of age or older with hemophilia A and inhibitors to factor VIII showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of bleeds over time compared to those receiving no prophylactic treatment. Secondary endpoints were also met.
Speights said Roche has a “potential wave of regulatory filings on the way,” seeking approval for up to 25 drugs. “Among the most notable candidates are autoimmune disease drug etrolizumab and two experimental Alzheimer's disease drugs–crenezumab and gantenerumab,” Speights said.