In November of 2008, Genzyme Corp. and Osiris Therapeutics (one of our Sector Companies) announced a "strategic alliance for the development and commercialization of Prochymal and Chondrogen." Prochymal and Chondrogen are both biologic drug candidates. Prochymal is a preparation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) formulated for intravenous infusion. Chondrogen is a preparation of MSCs formulated for direct injection into the knee. The mesenchymal stem cells n these products are taken from the bone marrow of healthy young adult donors. Both product candidates are allogeneic and scalable, two important qualities from Big Pharma's perspective.
Osiris's deal with Genzyme made it the Sector Company with the highest market capitalization at December 31, 2008, a distinction that returned to Geron Corp. after Osiris suffered clinical trial setbacks in 2009. Following Genzyme and Osiris came a deal for an autologous biologic drug product between Opexa Therapeutics (a Sector Company) and Novartis.
The latest deal is Phizer's purchase of Athersys, Inc.'s stem cell research. Athersys, one of our Sector companies, has 18.9 million shares outstanding with a float of 14.5 million shares. Athersys' deal with Phizer was announced on the 21st of December. During that week, roughly 110 million shares changed hands, and that includes a short trading day on the 24th and no trading on the 25th. So basically 110 million shares traded hands in three and one half trading days. It seems a substantial amount of money is on the sidelines waiting for anything positive on the stem cell front.
Continue reading "2009, The Year Big Pharma Bought The Idea Of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy" »
