Room for one more in RA

Pharmacia Corp., which is building an inflammation portfolio, is betting that Celltech Group plc's CDP 870 will be competitive in rheumatoid arthritis, even though it would be the third anti-TNF product to reach the market for RA. Celltech and PHA maintain that CDP 870 has advantages over these products in terms of dosing and manufacturing.

PHA last week entered into a worldwide deal with Celltech (LSE:CCH; CLL, Slough, U.K.) to co-develop and co-promote CDP 870 (see B3). PHA is paying $50 million up front and up to $230 million in milestones. CDP 870 is a pegylated TNF-alpha humanized antibody fragment in Phase IIb testing. The deal also covers use of CDP 870 in Crohn's disease...