One for a while. In January 2019, the JP Morgan Medical Conference was held in San Francisco as scheduled. At this conference, known as the "Super Bowl for Biomedicine," a huge amount of biomedical technology transactions can be reached between the intertwined and several handshakes.
On the third day of the conference, the participating companies discussed the current difficulties faced by the biomedical industry and shared their main trends in response to the challenges:
1. The biomedical community is cautious about the impact of the US government's closure;
2. AstraZeneca's net price fell in 2019, and the company will raise prices for some products;
3. New biotechnology Denali Therapeutics Inc. increased its investment in gene therapy and cooperated with Sirion Holdings to develop drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases;
4. Allergan will release the Rapastinel Phase III data of the NMDA modulator in the first half of 2019;
5. Aptinyx and Sangamo Therapeutics seek to work with large pharmaceutical companies.
The following are the main contents of the arterial network for you:
Biotechnology executives: The impact of government closures should not be underestimated
On January 9th, local time, at a biotechnology exhibition held concurrently with JPM, an industry executive said at a symposium that the industry is cautious about the impact of the US government's closure, and also worried that the government's closure time may be extended. The hidden dangers.
US President Trump and members of Congress disputed the funding of the US-Mexico border wall, which led to the partial closure of the US government from December 22, 2018. The US FDA is still using the carry-over funds to review the application, which is expected to end in February this year.
In a biotechnology demonstration group on "The intersection of policies and emotions," executives said the new NDA application was not accepted and they were not sure how long it would last.
During the biotech show, Joe Panetta, president and CEO of the Southern California Life Sciences Industry Association Biocom, said his organization members reported that they were unable to submit their applications as planned. He said helplessly: "Some people want to apply, but they can't apply."
It is not clear how long the deadlock will last. Panetta pointed out: "This uncertainty does not help our industry."
Raly King, CEO of Glycomimetics, said she had just learned from a banker that the two initial public offerings that were planned to start after the JPM meeting had been suspended. She stressed that for capital formation, timing determines everything, and delaying IPO is a "disaster."
Deerfield Management partner Jonathan Leff said the government’s closure reminded people that “the entire biotechnology and drug development industry relies heavily on the governmentâ€. He pointed out that "this is a symbiotic relationship."
He said that the long-term closure of the government's impact on the biotechnology industry is “great†and may be larger than any other industry because “the degree of interdependence is very highâ€. Many things are affected, including FDA review, research grants, and patent applications.
"If this situation lasts for a long time, I think we will see all kinds of influences, even beyond what we can think of today."
AstraZeneca's net price fell in 2019
AstraZeneca senior vice president Rick Suarez said in an interview with JPM that AstraZeneca's 2019 portfolio average net price will be lower than 2018, but the company will raise prices for some products.
On the issue of price increases, the pharmaceutical industry is under pressure from the public and legislators. US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar posted a post on Twitter on January 9th local time, condemning pharmaceutical companies for continuing to raise the price of their products. In January of this year, many drug manufacturers did raise the listing price as usual, but so far, some of the price increases have eased.
The industry is more willing to pay attention to the net price, which is the price after deducting the rebate, which is often much lower than the listing price. But for patients who need a high deductible plan to pay in advance, pricing is still important.
Rick Suarez said: "When we started to focus on the price of drugs, we did not really touch on some of the core challenges that patients may face in pharmacy counter fees."
He said that AstraZeneca is working hard to increase pricing transparency and is looking for new pricing methods for drugs, mainly to reach a value-based reimbursement agreement with the payer. AstraZeneca has been actively seeking this approach in its portfolio.
The executive said that one of the benefits of the Trump administration's focus on drug prices is the opening of industry discussions about drug pricing, payment and reimbursement.
Denali enters the field of gene therapy with high-profile
In December 2017, more than two years of new biotechnology Denali Therapeutics successfully landed on NASDAQ and set a record for the 2017 biotechnology IPO with a total valuation of $1.7 billion. Just a month later, in January 2018, Denali and Takeda announced a strategic partnership to develop a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases.
In the JPM meeting, Denali Chief Operating Officer and co-founder Alex Schuth was interviewed. The neuroscience expert believes that the gene therapy field of neurodegenerative diseases is the most exciting but most challenging of drug development. One of the areas where gene therapy can solve the big challenges in neurodegenerative diseases.
He said, "In recent years, gene therapy has made great progress. One of the challenges we face is still to provide gene therapy to the brain, and this is one of our core competencies."
The company announced on January 9th that it has partnered with Virion Holdings, a viral vector gene delivery technology development company, to develop an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector that will allow therapeutic drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to develop a range of candidates for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Denali has a striking lineage. It was founded by three former executives who left Genentech and launched in 2015 with the support of venture capitales Flagship Ventures and ARCH venture Partners, so the industry will definitely pay close attention to its progress.
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