Fasten Your Seatbelt: Biogen Preps for a Deal-Making Bonanza
April 24, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
On April 13, Biogen inked a deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb for BMS-986168 for $300 million up front and $550 million in milestones, plus royalties. And from what the company’s Michael Ehlers, head of Biogen’s research and development, told Bloomberg on Friday, this could be the opening salvo in a barrage of deals.
BMS-986168 is an antibody that targets extracellular tau, which are the proteins that form tangles in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). It fits neatly into Biogen’s efforts in Alzheimer’s and central nervous system disorders.
Investors have been urging Biogen to acquire companies or products in light of the slowdown of its multiple sclerosis (MS) franchise. Bloomberg notes that the Bristol-Myers deal was the largest addition to its pipeline that Biogen has made in 10 years.
Ehlers told Bloomberg, “We’re moving, and we’re back in terms of augmenting the pipeline.” And BMS-986168 is “hopefully just the beginning of a set of very rigorous but highly active deals.”
At least part of the challenge, according to Ehlers, is to acquire possible drugs before they’ve been completely proven to work, while weighing later-stage drugs that are more expensive to buy. He noted that understanding the mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric drugs is “one of the biggest problems, but we’re entering an era where we might be getting much better at that.”
Ehlers specifically discussed Sage Therapeutics , which in December 2016 announced for postpartum depression. He noted that Sage had a solid understanding of the neurological pathway in a specific patient group, which helped them move forward quickly with their study. It should be noted that Ehlers’ comments don’t necessarily indicate an interest on the part of Biogen in acquiring Sage or licensing its compounds. In a February 16 statement Sage indicated it was not interested in merger-and-acquisition activity, despite industry interest.
In addition to CNS indications, Ehlers says that Biogen is interested in chronic pain and eye diseases. Bloomberg writes, “The company is looking to repeat the success it’s had with Spinraza, a treatment for a rare and deadly muscle disease called spinal muscular atrophy that mainly affects babies and children. Biogen acquired the rights to it through a co-development deal with Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. , which Ehlers sees as a template.”
Ehlers said, “I don’t think anyone would have thought a few years ago that we’d have the kind of breakthrough in spinal muscular atrophy that we have today. I don’t think anyone even at Biogen would’ve said that this would be a major growth driver for us.”
Spinraza was approved earlier this year. According to Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges in a research note in late January, Biogen expected about 1,700 patients would start treatment on the drug in 2017 and 2018. According to the SMA Foundation, there are about between 9,000 and 25,000 SMA patients in the U.S.
The drug is being priced at $750,000 for the first year and $375,000 for each year afterwards. Patients receive six injections in the first year at about $125,000 per shot. In a political climate that is looking harshly on expensive drugs—even for extremely rare diseases—Biogen has launched SMA360, which is described as providing “certain services that address nonmedical barriers to access in the U.S. These include logistical assistance, product education, insurance benefits investigations and financial assistance.”