Human Genome Lupus Drug May Spur Takeover on Approval
Baku, November 18 (AZERTAC). Human Genome Sciences Inc. may get U.S. regulatory approval next month for the first new lupus treatment in 50 years, a move that could spur acquisition offers.
Benlysta, a drug Human Genome has said may cost patients $15,000 to $20,000 a year, is likely to win clearance after studies showed it reduced lupus symptoms such as joint and muscle pain, fever, rashes and fatigue with fewer side effects than therapies on the market, said Michael Yee, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco.
Human Genome, based in Rockville, Maryland, is co- developing the product with GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the U.K.`s biggest drugmaker. Annual sales for Benlysta may surpass $2.1 billion by 2014, the average of five analyst estimates Bloomberg compiled. A favorable ruling by regulators may spur Glaxo to make a bid, Yee said in a telephone interview.
Glaxo Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty has said his London-based company is seeking “bolt-on acquisitions.” The company still isn`t keen on “splashing out billions of dollars” to buy a large drugmaker “no matter what happens in the market,” Witty said in an Oct. 21 statement.
Glaxo is interested instead in deals ranging from “a few hundred millions” to “mid-single digit billions,” the statement said. Human Genome has a market value of about $5 billion and has deals with Glaxo on the heart disease drug darapladib and the diabetes drug Syncria, both of which are in late-stage clinical trials.
Clinical trials show that Benlysta was “generally well tolerated” and reduced symptoms when prescribed in addition to standard therapies, Mary Anne Rhyne, Glaxo`s U.S. spokeswoman, said Nov. 9 in an e-mail. Claire Brough, a London-based spokeswoman for Glaxo, declined to comment in an e-mail on whether the company would seek to acquire Human Genome.
Human Genome rose $2.15, or 8.8 percent, to $26.48 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, the most in more than six months, after losing 20 percent of its value this year before today. Glaxo`s American depositary receipts fell 15 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $39.75 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.