Arrow purchase adds another string to AZ’s biotech bow
pharmafile | February 9, 2007 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Â
AstraZeneca has bought London-based Arrow Therapeutics for $150 million (£76 million) in cash, adding to a long list of recent acquisitions and in-licensing deals.
AZ is one of pharma's most active in the in-licensing and acquisition field at the moment, seeking to re-stock its weak pipeline. The company says Arrow's specialist focus on anti-infectives will complement its existing development programme in the field, which it has now identified as a core therapy area.
Arrow Therapeutics is currently investigating several different and promising approaches towards new medicines to treat Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
This includes two anti-HCV compounds which both target the novel NS5a protein, including A-831 in phase I.
Arrow's most advanced compound is RSV604, currently in phase II clinical development and partnered with Novartis.
RSV604 is a first-in-class, small molecule, oral anti-RSV compound.
In May last year, AstraZeneca bought another UK-based biotech company, Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), but plans to allow the biotech to remain as independent as possible.
The intention is that CAT will maintain its lean and innovative biotech culture, and there are similar plans for Arrow Therapeutics within the AstraZeneca organisation,
Jan Lundberg, head of discovery at AstraZeneca said: "We intend to utilise the best of both organisations with an innovation-led culture paramount; we'll look to preserve the entrepreneurial culture of Arrow Therapeutics, while at the same time gaining the benefits available to us from applying the breadth and depth of AstraZeneca's global capabilities"
Arrow currently has 57 employees at its facility in London and AstraZeneca says the site will become a hub for anti-viral discovery activities.
As with CAT, the Arrow purchase has not brought any late-stage drugs into the company's pipeline, so the search continues for more phase II/III candidates.
