Wyeth shares are reeling on the news that bifeprunox won't be approved [1]. The stock is down about 7.5 percent since the FDA's "not approvable" letter was announced.
Coming on the heels of regulatory rejection of Pristiq [2], an antidepressant that was being tested for treatment of menopausal symptoms, and almost coincident with the halting of trials on Wyeth's hepatitis C hopeful (under development with ViroPharma), the bifeprunox blow was severe. Does Wyeth have enough new ideas up its pipeline to help pick up the slack? Some analysts think not; they're predicting a decline in sales and profits in 2010 or 2011 as blockbusters Effexor [3]and Protonix come off patent. "The roof is leaking," says one. Unfortunately, fixing these kinds of holes isn't as easy as replacing a few shingles.
- read the article [4] from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)
- and here's the report [5] from Forbes
Related Articles:
Wyeth, Solvay get FDA rejection. Report [1]
FDA demands more data on Wyeth's Pristiq. Report [2]
Patent 'cliff' looms for Big Pharma. Report [6]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/wyeth-solvay-get-fda-rejection/2007-08-10
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/fda-demands-more-data-wyeths-pristiq/2007-07-24
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/wyeth-gets-ok-to-use-effexor-xr-for-panic-disorder/2005-11-22
[4] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118696374982195541.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
[5] http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/08/10/wyeth-fda-trials-biz-cx_mh_0810wyeth.html
[6] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/patent-cliff-looms-for-big-pharma/2007-05-02