Calistoga Pharmaceuticals

In Frazier Healthcare Ventures portfolio

News: Lead drug CAL-101 is said to kill tumor cells (Dec. 9, 2008)

HealthCare Ventures

HealthCare Ventures

Click here to see this fund’s portfolio.

Merck Goes Generic

Merck (MRK) announced that it will be pursuing a “follow-on biologics” program through its Merck BioVentures Division.  Merck is signaling that it plans to manufacture and sell generic versions of the most popular biotech compounds on the market.  

Merck is expecting it can demonstrate the bioequivalence of its products without having to conduct expensive Phase III trials.  If this turns out to be true, this generic strategy could prove very profitable for Merck.

But at what expense?  It is interesting that Merck, long known for its R&D capabilities, has chosen a path of emulation over discovery.  Is this a signal that pharma’s innovative future is winding down, or is this simply a smart way to capitalize on a unique opportunity?

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY)

Core Competency: RNAi interference

Alliances: Novartis, Roche, Takeda

News: Purchased 116 pieces of IP from Nucleonics (Dec. 8, 2008)  Looks like Alnylam is making a move to cluster and consolidate its presence in the RNAi space in terms of IP positioning.

RNAi platforms seem to be all the rage right now, so such a move seems a strong strategic advance for the Cambridge, MA company.

So, VC’s Broke… Can We Fix It?

There was a terrific interview with Alan Frazier (from Frazier Healthcare Ventures) posted on Xconomy’s site.  I encourage everyone to check it out.  

Here’s the major passage I took away (quoting Mr. Frazier):

We are investing a little more than half in biotech, and the balance in medical devices. We are, for sure, doing less startups and more later-stage companies. We do a lot of new companies, still, probably one-fourth of our companies are new companies. But a lot of them are like Calistoga where it starts out with a product pretty much ready to go, where we pull it from someone else and try it in a new indication.

So, it seems to me like there is a new equation for VC that looks a lot more like private equity.  In other words, VC’s will be looking for enterprises in the future that are closer to positive cash flow, and they will be looking for companies that will make attractive acquisition targets (as opposed to potential IPOs).

Seattle Genetics

SGN-35.  Targeted antibody that identifies CD-30 and dumps a lethal dose of chemotherapy into tumor cells.

Genentech Purchase?

The proposed deal that would involve Roche’s (RHHBY) outright purchase of Genentech (DNA) may not go through.  The rumored bid of $43.7B for the remaining 44% of Genentech that Roche does not presently own would require a $45B loan, which appears to be hung up at the moment.  

The lending squeeze is apparently the culprit, as reported by Reuters.  The deal itself makes sense, but the magnitude of the required loan is just not feasible in the present economic climate.

Nonetheless, the Genentech buyout remains on the table. Read this article over at Pharmalot for further analysis on the matter.

Severin Schwan: Roche Pharmaceuticals, CEO

Name: Severin Schwan

Company: Roche Pharmaceuticals

Position: CEO

Bio (from Business Week)

Severin Schwan has been Group Chief Executive Officer of Roche Diagnostics Corporation since January 1, 2008. Dr. Schwan serves as Chief Executive Officer of Roche Holding AG. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Roche Diagnostics Corporation a Diagnostics Divisions of Roche Holding Ag, since January 1, 2006. He served as Trainee of Corporate Finance, Roche Basel from 1993 to 1995, Head Finance & Administration, Roche Brussels from 1995 to 1998, Head Finance & Informatics of Roche Grenzach and Member of the Executive Board of Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH from 1998 to 2000, Head Global Finance & Services of Roche Diagnostics from 2000 to 2004, Head Region Asia Pacific of Roche Diagnostics from 2004 to 2006. He served as a Head of Diagnostics Asia-Pacific of Roche Holding Ag from 2004 to January 1, 2006. He served as Head of Global Finance & Services for the Diagnostics Division from 2000 until 2004. Dr. Schwan holds Degree in Economics at University of Innsbruck, University of York and University of Oxford Mag. rer.soc.oec. (Innsbruck, 1991) and Law at University of Innsbruck Mag. iur. (Innsbruck, 1991) and Doctorate in Law at University of Innsbruck Research studies at University Louvain, Belgium Dr. iur. (Innsbruck, 1993).

 

WSJ Interview (Dec. 8, 2008)

Robert Nelsen: ARCH Venture Partners, Managing Director

Company: Arch Venture Partners

Position: Co-founder and Managing Director

Bio (from http://www.archventure.com/directors.html)

Robert Nelsen is a co-founder and a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners.

Mr. Nelsen joined ARCH at its founding and has played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing and development of more than thirty companies including Sapphire Energy, Ikaria, Illumina (ILMN), Adolor (ADLR), Aviron (AVIR, acquired by Medimmune-MEDI), Caliper Life Sciences (CALP), Trubion Pharmaceuticals (TRBN), Array BioPharma (ARRY), NetBot, deCODE Genetics (DCGN), Nanosys, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), XenoPort (XNPT), GenVec (GNVC), R2 Technology (acquired by Hologic-HOLX), IDUN Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer-PFE), Genomica (GNOM, acquired by Exelixis-EXEL), Surface Logix, NeurogesX (NGSX), Classmates.com (acquired by United Online-UNTD), Nura (acquired by Omeros), Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Spaltudaq, VLST, Ensemble Discovery, Accelerator, Apoptos, Fate Therapeutics, Agios Pharmaceuticals, and Everyday Learning.

Mr. Nelsen is a director of Ikaria, Sapphire Energy, Fate Therapeutics, Agios Pharmaceuticals, NeurogesX, and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals. He previously serves on the boards of Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Surface Logix, Adolor, NetBot, Everyday Learning, Spaltudaq, Array BioPharma, Caliper Life Sciences, Illumina, R2 Technology, and Classmates.com, among others. He also serves as a director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute. Mr. Nelsen holds an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago and a B.S. in Economics and Biology from the University of Puget Sound.

All Just a Memory

Roche Pharmaceuticals (RHHBY) announced a $50M acquisition purchase of Memory Pharmaceuticals, a small-cap biotech developing CNS compounds that had an existing partnership with Roche.

Memory has developed a class of nicotinic alpha-7 agonists, which are in Phase II trials for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.  The drugs treat the cognitive dysfunction of these CNS disorders through their interaction with nicotinic receptors in the brain.