Johnson and Johnson’s acquisition of Elan’s Alzheimer’s Immunotherapy program brings to light the eagerness of drug makers for catching on to the next Lipitor, but the future of bapineuzumab’s ownership rights and stakes only gets complicated from here. Today we have five companies sharing an interest in this prospective blockbuster; a blockbuster with an unclear future. While everyone is trying to capture as much of the mine as possible, nobody is sure how much gold lies within.
Negotiations over Bapineuzumab profits
The next chapter in this story will come about when Wyeth and Elan negotiate each company’s profit-split from bapineuzumab. We have Wyeth and Pfizer on one side, Wyeth having been the main player in the development of bapineuzumab. On the other side, Johnson and Johnson enters as a big player with Elan.
Even though Wyeth and Elan were working together on the development of bapineuzumab (alongside Biogen Idec), there was no clear agreement as to how the drug’s potential profits would be shared among the three companies. The new deal last week puts Johnson and Johnson in an excellent position, not just to champion the drug’s development in late-stage clinical trials, but also to share future profits from the drug’s success. That said, Wyeth has an exclusive right to take full control of bapineuzumab development if it desires to do so. With Pfizer developing its own pipeline for neurodegenerative diseases, both Wyeth and Pfizer would definitely be interested in latching on to the drug if they see signs of major success.
An uncertain future. But everyone wants a cut.
Overall, we can see an interesting story develop around a drug that has shown mixed signs of success, and rightfully so, because even though all companies want a share of the drug’s profits they don’t want to bet the farm on its uncertain future.
Let’s not forget that bapineuzumab had not met expectations during its clinical trials last year. First we saw its market shrink during Phase II clinical trials, when all patients with the ApoE-4 gene did not respond to the treatment and developed vasogenic edema in the brain. Following that, we saw Wyeth/Elan drop the highest dose level for Phase III clinical trials when similar problems were seen with the non-ApoE4 patients.
The Bapineuzumab story is currently a mixed-bag of opportunities and safety-concerns. While its target market is shrinking (not a good sign), it is being developed for a new market that really has no competition. However, economic and innovation factors are also playing a significant role in this story. All drug makers are experiencing shrinking pipelines amidst competitive and healthcare reform pressures. While the long-term effort to innovate and restructure themselves continues, pharma will keep its eyes on any near term blockbusters like bapineuzumab.
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