Why Not Europe?
Executive Summary
Gilead is now one of the few US biotech firms with European sales and marketing infrastructure, which it is leveraging well. But the company didn't take its first product to the EU on its own--and execs say playing it safe was the right choice. Other biotech firms are increasingly deciding that the cost of establishing a European marketing presence is not worth it for just one product. Cubist Pharmaceuticals is the latest in a string of companies to reach that conclusion. The reluctance stems largely from the complexities of doing business in the EU-ranging from differences in language, culture and regulatory requirements, to idiosyncratic practices in pharmaceutical marketing, sales and prescribing. Yet European rights are valuable to companies with the means to leverage them, and thus many drug developers have been able to negotiate successfully for what they want--ongoing involvement with the drug and opportunities to learn about Europe.
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Millennium: Leaving Europe to Partners
When it comes to Europe, the biotech industry is increasingly saying "no." The latest refusenik: Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. That's because Schering-Plough Corp., beset by a host of management and competitive problems, had seen European sales of Millennium's eptifibatide (Integrilin) weaken and decline-and they had never been strong. Merck & Co. Inc.'s tirofiban (Aggrastat), a weak number three in the IIb/IIIa inhibitor US market, had nearly twice Integrilin's sales in Europe; Johnson & Johnson's abciximab (Reopro) had about ten times Integrilin's sales. Millennium re-acquired the European rights and then immediately sold them again, this time to GlaxoSmithKline PLC
Millennium: Leaving Europe to Partners
When it comes to Europe, the biotech industry is increasingly saying "no." The latest refusenik: Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. That's because Schering-Plough Corp., beset by a host of management and competitive problems, had seen European sales of Millennium's eptifibatide (Integrilin) weaken and decline-and they had never been strong. Merck & Co. Inc.'s tirofiban (Aggrastat), a weak number three in the IIb/IIIa inhibitor US market, had nearly twice Integrilin's sales in Europe; Johnson & Johnson's abciximab (Reopro) had about ten times Integrilin's sales. Millennium re-acquired the European rights and then immediately sold them again, this time to GlaxoSmithKline PLC
Kos: Right-Sizing Expectations
Kos Pharmaceuticals has grown its lead product Niaspan, a form of the B vitamin niacin, into a $300 million product, mostly by marketing to cardiologists. The drug raises "good" cholesterol, and so is often prescribed in addition to statins that lower "bad" cholesterol. A recent co-promotion deal with Takeda will give the drug and a follow-on, Advicor, much more exposure in the primary care market, where the biggest pharma companies compete brutally. A vital step, or too little too late?