Novartis spends $200m on pain firm Spinifex
pharmafile | June 29, 2015 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Cosentyx, EMA401, Novartis, Secukinumab, spinifex
Novartis is spending $200 million to increase its presence in pain management through the purchase of US-Australian biotech Spinifex Pharmaceuticals.
Expected to complete in the second half of 2015 pending regulatory approval, Spinifex will see that cash up front and could be in line for further payments based on clinical development and regulatory milestones.
The buyout gives Swiss drugmaker Novartis the keys to Spinifex’s experimental neuropathic pain drug EMA401, that has shown promising mid-stage Phase II clinical trial results in the treating post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) – a painful post-shingles condition.
“Neuropathic pain is a chronic and debilitating condition with high unmet need. EMA401 could provide a novel, differentiated treatment approach to provide relief for patients and healthcare providers worldwide,” says David Epstein who is head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
It is estimated that up to 7 to 8% of the adult population suffer from chronic pain with neuropathic characteristics. Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition that Novartis says has a high-unmet medical need currently.
Commenting on the acquisition is Tom McCarthy, who is Spinifex’s president and chief executive: “This acquisition by Novartis is a testament to the significant progress our team has made in developing an entirely new approach to the treatment of chronic pain and particularly neuropathic pain.”
Novartis and psoriasis drug
Meanwhile Novartis seems to have come up trumps with its injectable drug Cosentyx (secukinumab), following positive clinical data that points to its long-term benefits in treating psoriatic arthritis.
Published in The Lancet following fast-track review, Cosentyx is the first interleukin-17A (IL-17A) inhibitor to demonstrate efficacy in a Phase III study in adult patients.
Cosentyx was FDA-approved in January for treating the painful skin condition plaque psoriasis, but Novartis also has high hopes for the product in such related conditions.
The firm has even told Reuters that its product could achieve peak annual sales of $4 billion to $5 billion – a lot more than forecasts by analysts that noted $1.8 billion by 2020.
“Secukinumab is the first IL-17A inhibitor to show consistent efficacy through one year in psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, and ankylosing spondylitis” says Vasant Narasimhan, head of development at Novartis.
Brett Wells
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