I warned investors last November not to leave ZymoGenetics
The company's only approved drug, Recothrom, used to stop bleeding during surgery, hasn't been able to stop the company's cash flow from hemhorraging. Recothrom brought in just $1.8 million in revenue last quarter, as it competed with other thrombins from entrenched leader King Pharmaceuticals
But ZymoGenetics' pipeline was able to give the balance sheet a transfusion. Bristol-Myers Squibb
Compare that to Alnylam's deal last week with Cubist Pharmaceuticals, which netted Alnylam $20 million up front and $82.5 million in potential milestone payments for its phase 2 compound, and you can see that ZymoGenetics got one heck of a deal.
Of course, PEG-interferon lambda has some serious sales potential, considering what's already on the market. Schering-Plough's
Perhaps the best part of the licensing deal for ZymoGenetics is that it takes some of the marketing risk off of the company's shoulders. The hepatitis C treatment market will change a lot between now and when PEG-interferon lambda potentially gets approved. Human Genome Sciences
But that's a long time off. For now, ZymoGenetics and its investors should relish the opportunity to live to see a few more years of drug development.