AstraZeneca Sets MedImmune's Role
By JEANNE WHALEN
September 20, 2007; [WSJ] Page B2
AstraZeneca PLC is addressing a big question mark around its recent $15.6 billion acquisition of biotech company MedImmune Inc.: how to fit the small company into the drug giant.
AstraZeneca is trying to run the firm separately but coordinate MedImmune's research with its own to ensure the groups are working on the most promising projects without duplicating efforts. AstraZeneca officials will also get involved in marketing strategy early on with the drugs MedImmune is developing.
That approach differs from what, until now, has been the industry's standard model: Roche Holding AG's control of biotech company Genentech, which operates as an entirely separate entity.
AstraZeneca officials said they set up an executive R&D committee that will coordinate work between the two groups and encourage rank-and-file scientists on both sides to swap information regularly. Jan Lundberg, executive vice president of discovery research at AstraZeneca, said the company looked at the Roche-Genentech model and felt it could get more out of its MedImmune collaboration by sharing more ideas across company borders.
MedImmune will retain its chief executive, David Mott, its president of R&D, James Young, and its name.
"It's important to have a name in the biotech industry," Chief Executive David Brennan said. "That identity is important for attracting and retaining people, and MedImmune is one of the marquee names in the industry."
Getting the most out of MedImmune is crucial for AstraZeneca, which has suffered research setbacks in recent years and badly needs new products to bring to market. AstraZeneca will continue to concentrate on developing small-molecule drugs, which are made from chemicals, while MedImmune will focus on large-molecule drugs made from biological ingredients.
A new six-person R&D committee chaired by John Patterson, executive director of drug development at AstraZeneca, will meet regularly to set strategy for research, AstraZeneca officials said. The committee will help decide which disease targets both research groups will focus on, taking into account whether the disease would be better attacked with a small-molecule or large-molecule drug. A few AstraZeneca marketing officials will also sit on that board to help set marketing strategy for potential drugs at an early stage.
Separately, MedImmune said Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of influenza vaccine FluMist in children, ages 2 to 5. The vaccine, delivered through a nasal spray instead of a shot, was previously approved for use in children and adults, ages 5 and older.
online.wsj.com |
