About 3 percent of the world’s population has been infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and more than 170 million chronic carriers are at risk of developing serious related diseases such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, the World Health Organization estimates. It is not surprising then that the global market for new HCV medicines is poised for dramatic growth.
Throw the predictions out of the window. Any thoughts that the number of biotech initial public offerings (IPO) would slow down anytime soon will surely be dispelled with the successful completion of five offerings. Cara Therapeutics Inc., Trevena Inc. and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. have followed Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Celladon Corp., which priced their IPOs Thursday.
It may sound like a broken record, but the biotech sector is still on an incredible roll and has started out the New Year the way it ended 2013, pushing its collective valuation to even new record highs.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. pleasantly surprised both investors and analysts alike with fourth quarter financials that were well ahead of expectations.
In a year that was driven largely by significant growth in its expanded multiple sclerosis (MS) franchise, Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Idec Inc. reported $6.9 billion in revenue, a 26 percent increase compared to 2012, in its full year and fourth quarter 2013 financial results just released.
In the first part of our feature on regenerative medicine last week we described the current state-of-the-industry and how the sector had emerged into biotech’s mainstream. This feature examines some of the recent clinical milestones that have been achieved by companies in the space and how these events are translating into value creation.
SAN FRANCISCO – What a fantastic week for the biotech industry. As the doors closed on the 32nd Annual J. P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week, delegates will surely have left with the lasting impression, if they hadn’t formed it before, that the sector is alive and well and poised for another great year.
SAN FRANCISCO – There is no doubt the regenerative medicine sector, which encompasses among other things cell and gene therapies aimed at tissue and organ repair, has been recognized as pivotal for the development of the next generation of innovative medicines.
SAN FRANCISCO – It has been exactly one year since Abbott spun out its research-based pharmaceuticals business into Abbvie Inc., an independent, publicly traded company. Since that time the company has been a favorite with investors. Will the company be able to repeat that performance going forward?
Back in October 2013, Merck & Co. Inc. chairman and CEO Kenneth C. Frazier announced a major strategic restructuring to create “greater efficiencies” for the company. The goal: to put its R&D operations in order and pare its annual operating expenses by approximately $2.5 billion by the end of 2015.
