Roche Plans on Being in the Thick of Heating Immunotherapy Market

During a recent interview, Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan indicated that the company would likely continue its focus on smaller-scale deal making.  The company will continue to focus on smaller acquisitions of “innovative companies” such as its recent purchase of Intermune.  “We have to be very consistent in our approach to M&A,” Schwan noted in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

What the executive also addressed in that interview was the emerging area of immunotherapy—a space which Roche reportedly plans on moving five experimental drugs into clinical trial this year.  With companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck and AstraZeneca all developing new therapies in this space, the competition has become intense.  Some analysts project that the industry as a whole could be worth as much as $35 billion annually in the future. 

Schwan believes this race will be decided by those with an edge in R&D.  “The winners and losers in the long term, I am absolutely sure, will be [decided by] those who do the clever combinations,” he told the newspaper. 

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Roche looking to expand oncology

At their recent investor conference Roche announced that they plan to increase their presence in oncology. They're currently the leading player in the oncology sector, as 53% of their 2009 sales came from that sector. Their current pipeline for oncology includes: several new drugs such as pertuzumab and T–DM1 for HER2-positive breast cancer, RG7204 for the treatment of malignant melanoma, GA101/RG7159 for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and RG3616 for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma and potentially other cancers such as colorectal cancer.

Read the full article here.

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Biopharma Updates Across the World

This recent post on Biopharmatoday sheds some light on recent biopharma developments from around the world including India, China, Japan, and around the Pacific. Some of the highlights from the article include President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the Philippines signing a new legislation that will transform the nation's top regulatory group. Under the new Act the Bureau of Food and Drugs will replace the Food and Drug Administration. In Europe, Roche became the first multinational pharma company to establish a research and development center in China.

Make sure to take a look at the post for the rest of the updates.

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Delivery of Biologics & Beyond

According to forecasting firm EvaluatePharma, six of the top ten drugs and half of the top 100 drugs in 2014 will be biologics. Predictions for biologic blockbusters include products from Roche, Wyeth, Amgen, Abbott, J&J and Schering Plough, with the top selling product being Roche’s anti-cancer antibody drug Avastin at $9.2 billion in annual sales. This analysis shows overwhelming evidence on how important biological drug development is to pharma pipelines. Pharmaceutical companies need faster and more efficient ways to formulate biologics and to further expand pipelines and competitive advantages with needle-free delivery.

Delivery of Biologics & Beyond, taking place September 23-25th in Boston, brings together senior-level scientists and technology/product developers to share the newest advances and address your most pressing challenges in formulating and delivering biologics and nucleic acids. Explore the latest case studies, discover the drug delivery technology advances for needle-free delivery of large molecules, and establish what technologies hold the most promise for advancing your biologics and RNAi pipelines.

If you'd like to network with other individuals in the space of Biologics, join our LinkedIn group here.

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