AZ and Lilly to partner for ALZ drug.
Hmm....I bet they wish they had a good screening tool for the enrollment..
AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly to unite for Alzheimer’s drug challenge
By Andrew Ward, Pharmaceuticals Correspondent
AstraZeneca has struck a deal to jointly develop a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease with Eli Lilly of the US in a partnership that
promises to add momentum to industry efforts to tackle one of the biggest public health challenges facing the developed world.
Drugmakers are facing pressure from governments to step up research and development into Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia
after years of false starts and dead ends.
AstraZeneca declared in May that it was looking for a partner to co-develop its experimental drug, AZD3293, which aims to suppress
the build up of a brain plaque that is strongly associated with Alzheimer’s.
Under Tuesday’s agreement, AstraZeneca would receive up to $500m from Eli Lilly if the drug proves successful in clinical trials, with
the two companies sharing development costs as well as potential revenues in the event of it reaching market.
In bullish forecasts issued while fending off a takeover approach from Pfizer in May, AstraZeneca said AZD3293 could generate as
much as $5bn in annual sales if trials were successful.
However, the company put the chance of this happening at just 9 per cent because of the high failure rate in Alzheimer’s research.
Only three new dementia drugs have reached market in the past 15 years and these provide only temporary relief from the condition.
The high risks involved in Alzheimer’s drug development have deterred investment, prompting David Cameron, UK prime minister, to
launch a push last year through the G8 group of leading economies to find ways of incentivising research.
Eli Lilly is one of the few big pharmaceutical companies to have remained committed to the field, together with Merck and Johnson &
Johnson of the US and Roche of Switzerland.
For AstraZeneca, the deal fits the strategy spelt out by Pascal Soriot, chief executive, to strike partnerships in non-core therapeutic
areas while sharpening its focus on cancer, diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
Mr Soriot is under pressure from shareholders to accelerate the company’s development pipeline after setting ambitious growth targets
during its takeover battle with Pfizer.
AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly plan to move AZD3293 rapidly into advanced trials in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, with
the US company leading clinical development while its UK partner takes responsibility for manufacturing.
The drug is one of several so-called BACE inhibitors at different stages of development, which have become the main hope of a
breakthrough in dementia.
“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the biggest challenges facing medical science today and BACE inhibitors have the potential to target one
of the key drivers of disease progression,” said Mene Pangalos, head of innovative medicines and early development at AstraZeneca.
Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form, already affects 44m people worldwide and this is set to reach 135m by 2050
as populations age, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International, a non-profit group.
Hmm....I bet they wish they had a good screening tool for the enrollment..
AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly to unite for Alzheimer’s drug challenge
By Andrew Ward, Pharmaceuticals Correspondent
AstraZeneca has struck a deal to jointly develop a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease with Eli Lilly of the US in a partnership that
promises to add momentum to industry efforts to tackle one of the biggest public health challenges facing the developed world.
Drugmakers are facing pressure from governments to step up research and development into Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia
after years of false starts and dead ends.
AstraZeneca declared in May that it was looking for a partner to co-develop its experimental drug, AZD3293, which aims to suppress
the build up of a brain plaque that is strongly associated with Alzheimer’s.
Under Tuesday’s agreement, AstraZeneca would receive up to $500m from Eli Lilly if the drug proves successful in clinical trials, with
the two companies sharing development costs as well as potential revenues in the event of it reaching market.
In bullish forecasts issued while fending off a takeover approach from Pfizer in May, AstraZeneca said AZD3293 could generate as
much as $5bn in annual sales if trials were successful.
However, the company put the chance of this happening at just 9 per cent because of the high failure rate in Alzheimer’s research.
Only three new dementia drugs have reached market in the past 15 years and these provide only temporary relief from the condition.
The high risks involved in Alzheimer’s drug development have deterred investment, prompting David Cameron, UK prime minister, to
launch a push last year through the G8 group of leading economies to find ways of incentivising research.
Eli Lilly is one of the few big pharmaceutical companies to have remained committed to the field, together with Merck and Johnson &
Johnson of the US and Roche of Switzerland.
For AstraZeneca, the deal fits the strategy spelt out by Pascal Soriot, chief executive, to strike partnerships in non-core therapeutic
areas while sharpening its focus on cancer, diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
Mr Soriot is under pressure from shareholders to accelerate the company’s development pipeline after setting ambitious growth targets
during its takeover battle with Pfizer.
AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly plan to move AZD3293 rapidly into advanced trials in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, with
the US company leading clinical development while its UK partner takes responsibility for manufacturing.
The drug is one of several so-called BACE inhibitors at different stages of development, which have become the main hope of a
breakthrough in dementia.
“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the biggest challenges facing medical science today and BACE inhibitors have the potential to target one
of the key drivers of disease progression,” said Mene Pangalos, head of innovative medicines and early development at AstraZeneca.
Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form, already affects 44m people worldwide and this is set to reach 135m by 2050
as populations age, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International, a non-profit group.
