The Burrill Report


Pfizer has agreed to by FoldRx, a privately held specialty drug developer targeting protein misfolding for an undisclosed initial payment plus milestones. The purchase builds on the drug giant's growing interest in niche drugs, a category it has begun to develop as a potential source of new revenues capable of partially stemming the losses it will incur when Lipitor goes off-patent in 2011.

Pfizer has already in-licensed Protalix's Uplyso for Gaucher's disease, a rare genetic disorder, and is building up its own rare disease-focused specialty care business unit.

Geno Germano, president and general manager of that unit calls Pfizer’s purchase “another important component to the growing portfolio of innovative in-line and investigational medicines for orphan and rare diseases within Pfizer’s Specialty Care Business” that will “complement” Pfizer’s ongoing and future neuroscience R&D program.

FoldRx has already begun to pursue approval for its lead drug candidate, tafamidis meglumine, an oral treatment for the fatal neurodegenerative disease TTR amyloid polyneuropathy. It has filed a marketing authorization application for the drug with the European Medicines Agency and is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to define a pathway for filing in the United States.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts company closed a $29 million financing to advance tafamidis to market in June, roping in new investors Novo Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures to join its existing investors: HealthCare Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences, TPG Biotechnology, Alta Partners, and Novartis Venture Funds.

FoldRx has also been working on other medicines for neurodegenerative and respiratory conditions and is exploring ways to use its small molecule therapeutics in the treatment of cystic fibrosis, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease.

The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approval.


September 02, 2010
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-another_specialty_buy_for_pfizer.html