Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) said it plans to spin off its hemophilia business into a separate public company by early 2017. It intends to distribute shares in the still-unnamed company to Biogen stockholders.
The newco will house marketed drugs Eloctate efmoroctocog alfa for hemophilia A and Alprolix eftrenonacog alfa for hemophilia B. The therapies had combined revenues of $640 million for the 12-month period ended March 31. The newco will remain partnered with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (SSE:SOBI) to develop and commercialize both drugs, which Biogen will continue to manufacture for the newco for three to five years.
The newco also will receive Biogen’s preclinical hemophilia pipeline, which includes longer acting therapies using recombinant XTEN technology from Amunix Operating Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.), bispecific antibodies and hemophilia-related gene therapy programs. Biogen expects the first long acting therapy to enter the clinic in 1H17.
On a conference call Tuesday, Biogen CEO George Scangos said the separation will permit each company to have separate priorities, capital allocation strategies and structures, and operating efficiencies. CFO Paul Clancy added that Biogen hopes the hemophilia drugs’ market performance will be stronger as a result of the spinout.
Full article at BioCentury
