Big Drug Firms Exit Biotech Partnerships

Three big pharma firms are ending biotech partnerships as they reassess their drug pipelines. After integrating Genentech, Roche has canceled deals with two partners, Actelion and Genmab. Actelion says it will continue to pursue development of ACT-12880, a selective S1P1 receptor agonist, as a treatment for psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. Genmab has not indicated the future of RG1507, a monoclonal antibody directed against the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly & Co. has returned to Isis Pharmaceuticals the rights to the anticancer drug ISIS-EIF4ERx, which has completed Phase I trials. And GlaxoSmithKline is returning to Cytokinetics the rights to GSK-923295, an inhibitor of centromere-associated protein E that is currently in Phase I trials for solid tumors.