A Rare Second Chance at Partnering Success for Vernalis' Underperforming Frova
Executive Summary
Vernalis has bought back rights to its Frova migraine treatment in North America from Elan, agreeing to pay $55 million over the next two years. Frova, sold there by Elan and UCB, had failed to reach even the most modest sales expectations. Now Vernalis plans to re-partner the drug, hoping a label-extension to menstrual-associated migraine lands it significantly better terms than its original 1998 deal with Elan. But Vernalis needs to raise money to complete the buyout, and the dynamics of the US migraine market suggest that until it can differentiate the drug on the basis of the MAM label, a huge primary care sales force would be necessary to gain a respectable share of the market.
You may also be interested in...
New Look for British Biotech
British Biotech's proposed merger with RiboTargets nets the company an entirely new discovery engine, but is only a first, small step in the downtrodden firm's transformation.
Hijacking The Messenger
Recent excitement around exosomes underscores their potential to solve drug delivery challenges that have limited the power and applicability of the biopharma industry’s growing arsenal of therapeutic modalities.
CNS IPOs Follow Broad Industry Trends
Datamonitor Healthcare's five-year review of initial public offerings of CNS-focused companies shows that they held their own compared with other biopharma sectors. The markets rewarded pain and neurodegenerative disease-focused players in particular. Step-up multiples in CNS IPOs slightly outpaced those for other biotechs.