AstraZeneca and Abbott to develop combined lipid-targeting drug
pharmafile | July 13, 2006 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Â
AstraZeneca and Abbott are to co-develop and market a combination treatment that will target three important blood lipids in one pill.
The new pill will combine AstraZeneca's Crestor with Abbott's next-generation fenofribrate (ABT-335), which is currently in phase III and is part of AstraZeneca's continuing drive to build its cardiovascular franchise.
The combined pill will lower LDL (bad cholesterol), and triglycerides as well as raising HDL (good cholesterol).
At the same time, another combination product based on Abbott's currently marketed fibrate TriCor and Crestor will also be evaluated.
A final selection for further development and commercialisation between the two programmes will be made from data generated from the two initial studies.
For Abbott, the move is part of a lifecycle management strategy, and should help it protect TriCor revenues ahead of its US patent expiry date in January 2009.
The potential of the combination pill is significant, as it will be able to target all three important lipid classes. The effects on HDL (good cholesterol) are interesting as both products are able to elevate HDL between 10-20%. If an additive effect can be shown in phase III trials of ABT-335, good cholesterol could be boosted by between 20-40% – levels only so far seen with cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors, such as Pfizer's Lipitor (torcetrapib).
However, continuing safety concerns over dangerous side effects associated with high doses of Crestor may impact upon the commercial success of a combination product, leaving Lipitor as the lead runner in the HDL battle.
This new collaboration, focusing on lipid management and atherosclerosis, represents the third such deal in 12 months for AstraZeneca.
In July 2005, AstraZeneca clinched a $340 million collaborative deal with Avanir Pharma to develop novel reverse cholesterol enhancing (RCT) compounds, followed by a $1 billion in-licensing deal with Atherogenics in December 2005 for AG1-1067, a novel antiatherosclerotic.
Tony Zook, AstraZeneca's North American executive vice president, said: "We are excited by the opportunity this collaboration brings to serve an important area of patient need. This represents an important further step in broadening the full, long-term potential of Crestor for the treatment of lipid disorders."
More than 100 million Americans suffer from lipid disorders. Of this number, 38 million US adults have LDL, HDL and triglycerides at levels that increase the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Patients with mixed dyslipidaemia are expected to become a more prominent segment of the dyslipidaemic population due to the increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
