Regeneron and Amgen, which is also developing a PCSK9 drugs, dismissed the possibility of a substantial delay.
FORBES: Analyst Is Skeptical Of Rival Company's Warnings About Regeneron
Amgen and Sanofi are interested in pursuing similar indications for their PCSK9 shots.
FORBES: As Companies Abandon Cholesterol, An Old Player Re-Emerges
It has been a hot target for drug development for several years, and PFizer and Amgen are also developing PCSK9 shots.
FORBES: New Drug Leads To Dramatic Reductions In Bad Cholesterol
Amgen and Sanofi are developing cholesterol-lowering shots called PCSK9 inhibitors, in part because the genetic research behind the drugs is so compelling.
FORBES: As Companies Abandon Cholesterol, An Old Player Re-Emerges
But the reason companies including Regeneron, its partner Sanofi, Amgen, and Pfizer are so excited about PCSK9 is because it should be a safe target.
FORBES: Analyst Is Skeptical Of Rival Company's Warnings About Regeneron
Several drug companies, including Amgen and the team of Regeneron and Sanofi, are developing incredibly potent cholesterol shots that work by targeting a protein called PCSK9.
FORBES: Why Merck's Niacin Failure Will Scare Drug Researchers
Because the underlying biology is so clear, it is far more likely that the PCSK9 inhibitor Sanofi is developing with partner Regeneron will prove helpful to heart patients.
REGN727 targets the protein produced by a gene called PCSK9.
FORBES: New Drug Leads To Dramatic Reductions In Bad Cholesterol
Researchers at several drug companies, including Sanofi, Pfizer and Merck as well as Amgen, have pointed to PCSK9 as their new ideal of a drug target.
FORBES: With DeCode Deal, Amgen Aims To Discover Drugs Like We Meant To In 1999
The American Heart Association meeting is in full swing and, as occurred at the American College of Cardiology meeting last March, the PCSK9 inhibitors are again taking center stage.
Sanofi is neck-in-neck with Amgen to introduce the first such medicine, a shot that targets a gene called PCSK9 to cause very low levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol.
FORBES: Sanofi CEO: It's Not A Plavix Hangover, We're Investing In Launching New Drugs
However, as I discussed earlier in the year, the broader use of PCSK9 inhibitors in the general (and more commercially attractive) population is questionable for a variety of reasons.
The PCSK9 inhibitors could work in these patient populations.
One cannot expect the NIH to fund a study to look at the potential benefit that a PCSK9 inhibitor might provide in reducing heart attacks and strokes as the costs are too prohibitive given its budget.
FORBES: Is Big Pharma Utilizing Too Many Resources on Potential Blockbusters?
What may not be widely appreciated is that the outcome of IMPROVE-IT could also have a big an impact on companies that are developing new cholesterol drugs, particularly those working on super-potent cholesterol injections called PCSK9 inhibitors.
FORBES: Merck's Big Vytorin Study Could Change Rules For New Cholesterol Drugs
His comments have stemmed from the press release from Sanofi and Regeneron outlining their extensive Phase 3 program for their novel lipid lowering agent , REGN27, a PCSK9 inhibitor which is the most advanced agent in this highly competitive field.
FORBES: Is Big Pharma Utilizing Too Many Resources on Potential Blockbusters?
Typically, these are motivated by a conspicuous success, a development program that was driven by the strength of beautiful molecular data, and the canonical example these days is PCSK9, a target which seems to feature an almost unprecedented alignment of human genetics, biomarker, and animal model data.
应用推荐