Follow-up drugs from the same company are often flubs. Sure, there's the rare case like AstraZeneca's
Genzyme
And so far, the oral medication is looking pretty good. Last week, the drug met the primary goal for its phase 2 trial, so Genzyme plans to move it into phase 3 trials in the middle of the year. Hopefully a brand name won't be too far behind, because Genz-112638 isn't very catchy.
While, ahem, Genz-112638 should be a good seller -- Cerezyme had sales of $1.2 billion last year -- it's more of a defensive play than anything else. Gaucher's disease is a rare genetic disorder that affects less than 10,000 patients per year and causes the buildup of a non-metabolized fat molecule in the cells and organs. Cerezyme is the main standard of care. Patients might be a little more compliant about taking Genz-112638, which could result in slightly higher sales, but Genzyme's top-line growth isn't going to come from Genz-112638.
What the oral drug will do is keep sales from dropping. It should help fend off competition from Amicus Therapeutics
While it's not always possible to do, developing an in-house product to extend past a patent cliff is certainly preferable to making a large, overpriced acquisition like Pfizer
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