Bapineuzumab, the potential megablockbuster Alzheimer's treatment, is dead. Not surprisingly, the drug failed another clinical trial, and Pfizer
The winner here? Elan
Elan used to own half of bapineuzumab, but sold half of its stake in the drug to Johnson & Johnson. As part of the deal, Johnson & Johnson funded the first $500 million of its share of the development costs and picked up half of the costs beyond that. Johnson & Johnson also invested $885 million in Elan for $8.25 per share, which provided an infusion of cash that helped get its finances in order.
If Elan is a winner, then obviously Johnson & Johnson is the big loser in all this. Part of the attraction to Elan was a side deal that could have put it in the driver's seat to buy Biogen Idec
We can give Pfizer a pass on this one. It inherited bapineuzumab through the acquisition of Wyeth, but the drug was more gravy than a motivating factor for the purchase. Besides finding a sucker to buy some or all of the rights to its half of the drug, there wasn't much Pfizer could do.
Eli Lilly
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