Ipsen Plants R&D Foothold in U.S. at New Mass. Facility
April 1, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— Continuing its push into North American markets, Paris-based Ipsen SA opened Ipsen Bioscience, the company’s new research and development center in a new state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge’s biotechnical heart.
The new facility in Cambridge puts the company’s endocrinology and oncology research and development efforts closer to key partners based in the area, including major hospital centers, first-rate university medical schools, and leading biotech companies. The new research and development center, part of Ipsen’s plan to broaden partnerships with the American biotechnology, medical and scientific communities, provides innovation in endocrinology, neurology, and oncology.
“Cambridge is a major global center for medical research and development and our presence here will allow us to take full advantage of the expertise and resources that drive innovation in Massachusetts,” said Marc de Garidel, chairman and chief executive officer, Ipsen.
Carving out a foothold in the U.S. is important as the company looks to increase sales in North America. In 2014, U.S. sales of Ipsen products in the United States amounted to $84.3 million, an increase of 23.7 percent compared to 2013.. In 2014, North American sales represented 6.2 percent of total company sales compared to 5.2 percent in 2013. In 2013, Ipsen’s R&D expenditure totaled approximately $360 million, representing more than 21 percent of sales.
The new research center is led by Leslie Sloan, a former Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company executive. Also, Cynthia Schwalm, a former general manager of Amgen ’s oncology business, has been tapped to lead Ipsen’s commercial operations in North America, according to Bloomberg.
To mark the grand opening of the new site, Ipsen is hosting a scientific symposium with the theme of "Connecting with Creativity". Two Nobel Prize laureates, Michael Bishop, discoverer of oncogenes and Phillip Sharp, discoverer of alternative splicing of eukaryotic cells, as well as other prominent scientists and researchers will participate in the symposium.
Cambridge is home to a growing number of life-sciences businesses. Currently dozens of major and start-up companies call Cambridge home, including Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , Vertex Pharmaceuticals , Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation , Amgen , Bayer , Biogen Idec, Inc. , Sanofi Advetis and more.
Last month Ipsen went on a sales-force hiring spree in the United States to promote two new medicines, Dysport, a Botox rival that will have additional medical use, and Somatuline, a drug used to treat tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas. The employment boost is part of a plan to carve out a greater market share in the United States against rival anti-wrinkle drugmaker Allergan Inc. , the maker of Botox.
Dysport is an injection used to temporarily treat frown lines on the face. Ipsen is looking at additional uses for the drug to treat upper-limb spasticity in adults.
Somatuline is currently used to treat a hormone disorder known as acromegaly that causes the pituitary gland to generate too much growth hormone, leading to an increase in bone size. The disorder primarily impacts middle-aged adults. In December the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Somatuline’s use for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable, advanced or metastatic gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). Clinical trials showed that Somatuline reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 53 percent.