AstraZeneca ‘simplifies decision-making’
pharmafile | February 4, 2014 | News story | Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, BMS, Byetta, Forxiga, Onglyza, diabetes
AstraZeneca has completed its $4.3 billion acquisition of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s diabetes business, giving the company control over several big-name brands including Onglyza, Forxiga and Byetta.
It is hoping such products can be a source of future growth, as AstraZeneca’s pipeline has in the recent past been a cause of concern for the company and its investors alike.
“Diabetes is very much an area of strategic focus for us in R&D and commercial,” Lisa Anson, president of AstraZeneca UK and Ireland, told Pharmafocus. “It is one of our three core therapy areas.”
While not adding new drugs to the pipeline per se, Anson believes that this renewed focus on diabetes will help the company’s operations across the board, with ongoing trials of existing drugs helping its reputation with key opinion leaders and feeding into other areas.
“Making the connection with products in the market will just strengthen our overall offering, it complements the work we are already doing,” she said.
A major advantage of buying BMS’ interest in what was the two companies’ alliance will be a simplified decision-making structure, Anson continued.
“We’re very clear that the alliance with BMS has been very successful,” Anson said. “But it’s also very clear that always working with two companies is more complex, by definition, than working with one. We can now make decisions more quickly. The next phase of the diabetes market will be more competitive.”
The company has agreed to pay BMS various sales-related royalty payments up until 2025, and in addition the Anglo-Swedish firm may make payments up to $225 million when certain assets are transferred.
Around 4,100 BMS employees dedicated to the diabetes business will move over to AstraZeneca, with the latter taking responsibility for the manufacturing and supply chain of the full portfolio of diabetes products.
More than 550 million people worldwide are expected to be affected by diabetes by 2030.
But AstraZeneca has more pressing concerns, using the JP Morgan healthcare conference last month to pledge that it would halt the slide in its global sales in the next three years, thus setting a target date for a return to growth.
It believes that acquisitions and the development of new drugs – including treatments for diabetes, gout and cancer – will make $3 billion more than the $22 billion analysts expect in 2017.
As well as being hit by patent losses, the firm has had more than its share of late-stage failures, an unsatisfactory state of affairs which led to former chief executive David Brennan being ousted and replaced by Roche’s Pascal Soriot in 2012.
The company’s late-stage pipeline now comprises 11 Phase III programmes – almost double the number a year ago, it says – and 27 in Phase II.
Adam Hill
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