Roche ‘considers’ Alexion bid
pharmafile | July 16, 2013 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Alexion, Orphan, Roche, soliris
Speculation that Roche is considering a bid for rare disease specialist Alexion Pharmaceuticals has unleashed a flurry of comment – although not from the firms themselves.
Bloomberg News reported that the Swiss company was seeking billions of dollars in financing to bankroll a potential deal – but Roche and Alexion have remained tight-lipped.
Alexion, which may be valued around the $20 billion mark, has just one approved drug: a Prix Galien-winning, first-in-class terminal complement inhibitor, Soliris (eculizumab).
The drug is approved in the US and Europe to treat two rare blood disorders: paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS).
It has also just been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a life-threatening, ultra-rare neurological disorder, following Phase II results suggesting it might significantly reduce the frequency of relapses.
With this in mind, the US firm looks in some ways an odd target for Roche, whose key commercial driver is oncology – most recently evidenced by conditional European approval for its own Erivedge brand to treat advanced basal cell carcinoma – but the opening up of a new revenue stream might be attractive.
There is also the fact that Soliris, while prescribed relatively little, is extremely expensive and, analysts predict, could be worth $6 billion in the next decade.
The most recent comparable deal for Roche was last year’s attempt to buy Illumina – a hostile takeover bid that ended in failure despite Roche repeatedly raising its offer to a final price of $6.7 billion.
Alexion – with whom Roche has been in contact ‘on and off for months’, says Bloomberg, is likely to cost much more.
Analysts have pointed to failures in Roche’s pipeline as a possible reason for it wanting to dig deep into its coffers.
“On the first page of the pharma playbook is: ‘If you have pipeline failures, do an acquisition’,” Poliwogg healthcare strategist Les Funtleyder told Bloomberg.
Earlier this month Roche announced it was abandoning its Phase III investigation, called AleCardio, into aleglitazar in acute coronary syndrome and diabetes due to safety issues and lack of effectiveness.
Adam Hill
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