The drug developed by Nogra always seemed like a longshot, but Celgene management talked it up over the years as it advanced.
This opinion piece presents the opinions of the author. It does not necessarily reflect the views of BioSpace.
When Celgene announced it was licensing a Crohn’s drug from a little-know Irish company back in 2014, many observers were surprised. The antisense drug developed by Nogra Pharma always seemed like a longshot, but Celgene management talked it up over the years as it advanced. Expectations got surprisingly high--Celgene lost 10% of its value in one day when this program failed, despite the fact that this had to be seen as a not-too-unlikely outcome.
Meanwhile, if hopes were running too high among Celgene investors, they were perhaps too low among shareholders of Ionis Pharma. While we’ve yet to see detailed data on Alnylam Pharma‘s TTR amyloidosis drug Patisiran, Ionis’s competing drug inotersen may have been written off too quickly. While side effects remain an issue, new details show that is was highly effective in phase 3 while also offering much more convenient dosing. Even if it doesn’t become the favored therapy, Inotersen is likely to be at least a player.
Here’s a roundup of these stories and other top clinical news from the past month.
- $710M Gamble Fails as Celgene Terminates Two Phase III Trials
- Pfizer Touts Mid-Stage Lung Cancer, Brain Tumor Data
- Ardelyx Shares Soared After Positive Phase III Results for Tenapanor
- Questions Arise Over Ionis and Its New Phase III ATTR Study Data
- Ablynx Rockets On Phase III Blood Disease Data
Read More From Karl Thiel:
Novartis Has Set a Tricky Precedent in Gene Therapy
