Divvying up skill sets
Inflammation deal frees resources at Amgen, gives AstraZeneca Phase III asset
AstraZeneca plc's deal for five clinical mAbs from Amgen Inc.'s inflammation and pulmonary portfolio puts the pharma close to its goal of getting 40% of its pipeline from external sources. For Amgen, last week's partnership frees up resources to allocate to other programs, including a cardiovascular and cancer pipeline the bellwether has said contains more assets than it can move into Phase III.
A driver of the deal is brodalumab (formerly AMG 827), a Phase III-ready human mAb against interleukin-17 (IL-17) receptor (IL17R; IL17RA) that has the potential for best-in-class efficacy. Last month, brodalumab met the primary endpoint of a greater percentage improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score from baseline to week 12 vs. placebo in a Phase II trial in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis...