Benefits of a jv with a big pharma Very interesting interview with Seagen’s CEO (Pfizer bought them for 43B$) on the huge benefits a jv (or buyout in this case) can help a biotech accelerate its development.
So TLT's decision to seek to jv with a big pharma is a sounded one, if it gives something like this below:
Here are some excerpts:
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/seagen-ceo-david-epstein-his-next-stop-pfizer-acquisition-and-adc-competition
Why Pfizer?
Pending the close of the sale to Pfizer, Seagen’s long-term value will lie in the hands of the New York drug giant. As Epstein sees it, becoming part of a large pharma company like Pfizer should provide a tailwind as Seagen continues to grow.
For example, Pfizer can immediately expand Seagen’s portfolio worldwide and add new manufacturing and R&D capabilities, Epstein said.
“It’s almost like they fulfill your wishes in terms of what you would like to do on your own but [you] get it overnight instead of having to take a decade to build up,” he said.
Seagen would have struggled to build a commercial infrastructure beyond the 17 countries that it’s already in, Epstein said. With Pfizer, the ADC portfolio will immediately benefit from a global presence.
Besides, Seagen’s HER2 small-molecule drug Tukysa and RemeGen-licensed HER2 ADC disitamab vedotin could benefit from Pfizer’s experience with CDK4/6 breast cancer drug Ibrance. And Pfizer’s knowledge in genitourinary cancer, thanks to its Astellas-partnered prostate cancer drug Xtandi, is relevant for Seagen’s bladder cancer med Padcev.
Scale matters for R&D, too, the CEO said.
In the ADC world, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo recently grabbed the limelight with Enhertu. Pfizer could help Seagen level the playing field from a clinical development perspective, Epstein figures.
“If you look at the scale, the number of their phase 3 programs that [they] run in parallel … the fact that they can do that, they can enroll patients globally ... it will get harder and harder to compete as a smaller, mid-sized company,” Epstein said while comparing Seagen with the AZ-Daiichi partnership. “Pfizer immediately will bring strength to Seagen’s portfolio.”
Epstein raised Pfizer’s BCMAxCD3 bispecific antibody elranatamab as one example. While the drug’s initial indication in triple-class refractory multiple myeloma is under FDA review, Pfizer has simultaneously started three phase 3 trials in earlier treatment settings.
“That’s an example of something we could never do. We can do that for one drug, maybe. They can do it across our portfolio,” Epstein said.
On the drug discovery front, Epstein said he admires Pfizer’s chemistry capabilities.
“If I can deploy … Pfizer’s chemistry skills, combine it with our biology, we will make better ADCs more quickly,” Epstein said.