Astellas' buy of Iveric Bio will give it a leadership position on GA, says analyst

3 May 2023
astellas_big

The announcement earlier this week of Japanese pharm major Astellas Pharma (TYO: 4503) $5.9 billion acquisition of US biotech Iveric Bio (Nasdaq: ISEE) has prompted a speedy evaluation comment from GlobalData pharma analyst Prashant Khadayate.

“Astellas mentions blindness and regeneration as one of the five focus areas for research and development. Currently, Astellas pipeline includes cell therapy ASP7317 in Phase I development for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration, and Stargardt disease,” noted Mr Khadayate.

“With this acquisition, Astellas will quickly get access to Iveric Bio’s lead program, avacincaptad pegol. It is in the pre-registration stage in the US for GA and is expected to get approval in August 2023, becoming the second drug to get approval for this indication. Earlier, in February 2023, Apellis Pharmaceuticals Syfovre (pegcetacoplan) was approved in the US and became the first drug to get approval for GA, he added.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free.  A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Login to your account

Become a subscriber

 

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now
  • Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
  • Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
  • Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
  • Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
  • Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK

Companies featured in this story

More ones to watch >


Today's issue

Company Spotlight





More Features in Biotechnology