Last week, I posted on Amylin's vigil for a swift approval of Bydureon by the FDA following resubmission of requested information. This drug represents a partnership between Amylin, Eli Lilly and Alkermes to bring it to market as a breakthrough 1x per week treatment for type II diabetes.
As reported in Xconomy today, Alkermes too must be eager to see this drug gain approval, hit the market and start cranking sales. It seems Alkermes, stands to gain an 8% royalty on first 1st 40 M units of Bydureon sold annually (at current prices approx $2 B in sales). That's $160 M in intial royalty potential and is some serious cash for Alkermes.
“We’ll be making profits from the first vial of sales,” says CEO Richard Pops. “If it’s a $5 billion product, we’ll make hundreds of millions per year. With no capital investment. It’s pure profit.”
Alkermes inked the deal in 2005, and is in this position as it claims it was the only company capable of delivering the chemistry to make Bydureon (exenatide) stable and effective in the blood stream for 1 week.
Now, all that remains is to see how swiftly Alkermes can start taking its profit.
Posted by Bruce Lehr April 26th 2010.
An update on FDA review from Xconomy site.
http://www.xconomy.com/national/2010/05/06/amylin-alkermes-get-new-fda-date/
Posted by: Bruce Lehr | 05/06/2010 at 08:36 PM