Insight into Generics Deal Making

In the fifth PharmaVentures Business Review of 2007, we take a look at the generics sector of the pharmaceutical industry. In the Business Report, we investigate the trends in deal making for the generics sector and discuss the types of deals that make it unique – compared with the rest of the pharmaceutical industry. In the Month in Review, we review the industry's key deals during April 2007 and their likely impact on the companies involved as well as on the market sector. In Face-to-Face, Fintan Walton talks to Nick Woolf, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Oxford BioMedica, about the company’s ongoing success as it moves toward its ultimate goal of becoming a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company.

The Month in Review

Learn about the key deals in April 2007 and what they have meant for the companies involved. Featured deals include those between AstraZeneca and MedImmune, Antisoma and Novartis, Roche and BioVeris, and others.

To learn more about the major deals and transactions from the previous month’s industry activity, you should view PharmaDeals Intelligence bank, a comprehensive and global source of deals information. With financial information, news alerts and legal agreements, this searchable resource, which is compiled by analysts and consultants, is an essential deal making tool.

• AVEO Pharmaceuticals has entered into a US$478 M agreement with Schering-Plough to develop and commercialise AV-299, an anticancer drug discovered by AVEO.
• Roche Diagnostics has acquired BioVeris for US$600 M at US$21.5 and resulting in BioVeris' share price jumping over 50% to more than US$20.
• Roche and Transgene, a biopharmaceutical company based in France, have signed a US$291 M worldwide collaboration agreement to develop and commercialise products from Transgene's therapeutic vaccine programme against HPV-mediated diseases.
• AstraZeneca has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MedImmune for US$15.6 B increasing AstraZeneca's total development pipeline by 45 projects to 163 projects.
• Antisoma, a UK company, has signed an exclusive global licensing agreement with Novartis for Antisoma's late-stage anticancer drug, AS1404, for a potential US$890 M.

The Business Report

In the May edition of the Business Report, we focus on the generics sector of the pharmaceutical industry and take a look at the deal making trends that set it apart from the rest of the industry. The growth rate of the generics sector is looked at from both a market size and deal making point of view with comparison made to the general pharmaceutical market. We examine the types of products and the therapeutic areas that are the subject of most deal making in the generics sector. Finally, we discuss the business acquisition activity that is driving generics sector consolidation and creating generics companies that may soon rival big pharma in terms of size.

Face-to-Face

Fintan Walton talks to Nick Woolf, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Oxford BioMedica, about the company’s ongoing success as it moves toward its ultimate goal of becoming a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceutical company. They review the company’s history and the finances that have been raised since its successful public listing on AIM in 1996. Together, they discuss the challenges of operating within the gene therapy space and how Oxford BioMedica has leveraged value from its viral vector technology through deal making. Nick also talks about Oxford BioMedica’s recent acquisition of Oxxon Therapeutics and the landmark deal the company has signed with global giant sanofi-aventis, to complete the development of its lead product, the cancer vaccine TroVax®.