Novartis AG bolstered its portfolio of multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments on Friday by agreeing to buy an experimental drug from GlaxoSmithKline PLC for up to US$1 billion, the company said.
Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, acquired the rights this year to use the drug, ofatumumab, to treat cancer and sells it under the name Arzerra. This was part of a broader swap of assets completed in March, in which Novartis took over Glaxo’s cancer drugs and Glaxo took on much of Novartis’ vaccine business.
The deal announced on Friday gives Novartis all remaining rights to ofatumumab, which is being developed to treat relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions.
Having the rights under one ownership would avoid the complications that could arise from having two companies selling the same drug for different uses. The deal also bolsters a portfolio of drugs Novartis is developing for multiple sclerosis, centered around its blockbuster pill Gilenya.
Novartis is to pay US$300 million upfront to Glaxo and another US$200 million once late-stage clinical trials start. Novartis would make payments of up to US$534 million on top of that, depending on whether development targets are reached. The company is also to pay royalties of up to 12 percent to Glaxo on any future net sales of the drug.
“Novartis is pleased to further reinforce our commitment to neuroscience and to add an exciting new treatment to our strong MS portfolio,” Novartis Pharmaceuticals division head David Epstein said in a news release.
In addition to Gilenya, Novartis sells a multiple sclerosis drug called Extavia and recently began marketing a generic version of Teva’s Copaxone, one of the most widely used drugs for the disease. It also has some other drugs in development. Gilenya could lose patent protection starting in 2019. So filling the loss could be another reason for Novartis to want a new drug.
However, the market for multiple sclerosis drugs is crowded, which might limit the sales any new drug like ofatumumab could have.
Moreover, ofatumumab is only now ready to enter late-stage clinical trials, putting it a couple of years behind ocrelizumab, a similar drug being developed by Roche.
Both drugs deplete B cells, which are white blood cells that are part of the immune system. B cells are necessary to fight infections, but if they go awry, they can contribute to autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis or to lymphomas. Both drugs bind to the same molecule on the surface of B cells — known as CD20 — as Roche’s big-selling cancer drug Rituxan. Rituxan is not approved for multiple sclerosis, but it is approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, another autoimmune disease.
Ofatumumab, a type of protein called a monoclonal antibody, was developed initially by Genmab, a Danish biotechnology company, which receives royalties on sales.
David Redfern, the chief strategy officer at Glaxo, said in a news release that the sale would allow the company to focus on core areas, including HIV, oncology and vaccines.
“We are pleased to have completed this transaction to divest the remaining rights in ofatumumab, crystallizing significant additional value for GSK shareholders,” Redfern said.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his