Setting its sights squarely on a future focused on rare diseases, BioMarin ($BMRN) has opted to out-license its Phase III PARP inhibitor to Medivation for $410 million upfront with another $160 million in milestones.
Medivation ($MDVN) is getting talazoparib (BMN673) in the deal, which headed into Phase III back in 2013 for advanced breast cancer among patients with BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutations.
Medivation has enjoyed considerable success with its prostate cancer pill Xtandi, though it has paled occasionally in comparison to the rival Zytiga marketed by J&J ($JNJ). Now Medivation has a shot at a near-term add-on to the portfolio–but faces a small gang of competitors.
The price, though, is likely to raise a few eyebrows in the cancer field. Late-stage cancer assets in particular can often snag a bigger set of milestones than this these days, with a number of big players competing for programs. Medivation CEO David Hung has a rep as an effective dealmaker, though, and there are still plenty of unanswered questions about the market potential for PARP inhibitors.
The PARP spotlight has been centered on AstraZeneca’s ($AZN) Lynparza and Clovis Oncology’s ($CLVS) rucaparib, which is also targeted on BRCA mutations and which won the FDA’s breakthrough drug designation last spring. AstraZeneca was the first to market, though, winning an approval for Lynparza based on Phase II data among patients with defective BRCA genes. And Tesaro ($TSRO) is advancing niraparib (formerly MK-4827) for ovarian and breast cancer. Late-stage data for all of these drugs will ultimately determine how they fare on the market.
BioMarin, meanwhile, has been building its reputation in the rare disease arena. The late-stage focus at the biotech has centered on an experimental therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy as well as vosoritide (BMN 111), which is designed to correct dwarfism.
“Medivation’s expertise and track record in oncology clinical development and commercialization has been well demonstrated by the Company’s success to date,” says BioMarin CMO Hank Fuchs. “Placing talazoparib in their capable hands allows us to optimize our portfolio and focus our resources on established areas of expertise–developing novel products to treat rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases.”
By John Carroll
Source: FierceBiotech
CureVac and the University of Texas’s MD Anderson Cancer Center have announced a co-development and licensing agreement to develop novel messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based cancer vaccines. The strategic collaboration will focus on the development of differentiated cancer vaccine candidates in selected haematological and solid tumour indications with high unmet medical needs.
FUJIFILM Corporation is planning to invest $1.2 billion to expand the planned FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, US. This news follows the organisation’s announcement of a $2 billion investment in the facility in March 2021. This additional financial boost totals the investment to over $3.2 billion, FUJIFILM confirmed.
Sanofi’s global restructuring and downsizing is now fully underway, with layoffs stretching to the company’s Belgian offices. Belgian newspaper De Tijd reports that 67 employees have been laid off at a site in Ghent and 32 jobs are on the chopping block at Sanofi’s Belgium HQ in Diegem.
