Genzyme Boldly Enters the Cholesterol Market Fracas
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Just what the market needs—another cholesterol control medication. That said you can always count on Genzyme to bring its unique approach to drug development to an already overcrowded marketplace.
The New York Times reported today that Genzyme inked a deal with Carlsbad CA-based Isis Pharmaceuticals, an early pioneer of anti-sense technology. Genzyme has agreed to pay at least $325 million to win the hotly contested rights to Isis’ potentially powerful cholesterol-lowering drug called mipomersen. Genzyme beat out at least another 10 companies that were interested in the deal. Genzyme, one of the world’s most successful biotechnology companies, primarily creates drugs that are used to treat small numbers of patients with rare genetic diseases like Fabry disease and Type I Gaucher disease.
Mipomersen is in Phase III clinical trials as a treatment for a rare genetic disease that causes people to have astronomical cholesterol levels, raising their risk of premature cardiovascular disease and death. There are only about 10,000 people in the world with the most severe form of the disease, which can cause heart attacks even in young children. According to Isis, the drug lowered levels of cholesterol and other blood lipids more than 40 percent beyond reductions achieved by statins and other existing drugs alone. Isis and Genzyme believe that the drug might also be used for 1.5 million people in the United States and Europe with less severe forms of the genetic disorder and also for millions of people who have high cholesterol that is not controlled sufficiently by statins like Lipitor.
Genzyme appears to be a logical partner for Isis because of its focus on developing medications to treat rare genetic disorders. However, Genzyme’s ability to penetrate the broader cardiovascular market may be hindered by its lack of a large sales force which is typically required to call on general practice physicians who frequently prescribe cholesterol-lowering medications.
Isis and Genzyme hope to submit a new drug application to the US Food and Drug administration in 2009 for approval of mipomersen.
Until next time….
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (try Genzyme)!!!!!!!!
Every major pharmaceutical company on the planet declares that it “invests billions of dollars into R &D to develop novel medicines to address unmet medical needs”. Further, pharmaceutical company advocates and lobbyists frequently justify the high costs of medicines by suggesting that they are necessary because companies must reinvest a portion of their profits into R & D to discover new drugs. After receiving several comments posted to BioJobBlog informing me that high drug prices are necessary in order for pharma companies to continue to meet unmet medical needs, I decided to delve a little deeper into what “addressing unmet medical needs” really means in the pharmaceutical industry. 
