Interested in reading more?

TAKING GOOD SCIENCE AND SOUND MANAGEMENT TO THE BANK (The Scientist, Vol:5, #11, pg. 9, May 27,1991) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) ---------- Regeneron's windfall of April 2 may have shocked a number of technology watchers and inspired dark predictions from others. But the fact remains that while Regeneron's wildly successful initial public offering may be due in part to Wall Street hype, the company's promising science, growing market potential, experienced management, and strategic alliances render it one of the most promising young biotechs today. Regeneron's therapeutic strategy is to use neurotrophic factors--specific, naturally occurring human proteins--to prevent degeneration or promote regeneration of neurons. Already scientists at the company have announced the cloning and characterization of three such factors: BDNF, NT-3, and CNTF. Though their therapeutic value is as yet unproven, the market potential for these factors is phenomenal. In a society with an aging population, neural disorders--for which there are no known cure--are a growing concern. Alzheimer's disease alone is predicted to afflict 14 million U.S. citizens by the year 2040. Parkinson's disease debilitates an additional 1 percent to 2 percent of those over age 60. The company that can translate a neurotrophic factor into a therapeutic that ameliorates or even counteracts such nerve degeneration will face tremendous market demand well into the foreseeable future. Regeneron's top management is another asset investors are betting on. A team that includes leading neurologists and experienced businesspeople is further enhanced by a scientific advisory board that includes three Nobel laureates. This management team has signed two key joint ventures that have inspired public confidence. A $53 million research and development agreement with Amgen Inc. will yield Regeneron 50 percent of all resultant profits, and a marketing and R&D agreement with Sumimoto Chemical Co. of Japan is worth $10 million to the biotech. Regeneron also holds exclusive licensing rights to technology being developed at the Brain Research Institute in Zurich, where scientists have used antibodies to nerve growth inhibitors to promote spinal cord regeneration in animals. But despite this scientific promise and managerial know-how, the unknowns that will influence the future of Regeneron should be enough to cow even the most enthusiastic investor. Neurobiology is still in its infancy, compared with immunology and other sciences that financiers have cashed in on. "We just recently discovered neurotrophic factors," says Solomon Snyder, director of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University Medical School. "We don't necessarily know their role in normal conditions, much less if they will be effective therapeutic agents." It takes seven to 10 years to get a relatively simple chemical therapeutic from initial synthesis to market. The process of identifying the neurotrophic factors, locating and cloning their genes, manufacturing them, getting them across the blood-brain barrier, identifying their function in animal models, and finally testing their safety and efficacy in humans could well take longer, Snyder says. And finally, the question of proprietary technology is still very much up in the air within neurobiology. Synergen Inc. of Boulder, Colo., holds the only patent awarded to date for a genetically engineered neurotrophic factor (ciliary neurotrophic factor--CNTF), and Regeneron is one of the competitors that has challenged that award. As Snyder points out, legal counsel for all of these firms will be busy for a long time. "The neurotrophic factors are being identified by a number of different labs at approximately the same time," he observes. "So lots of corporate and university labs are applying for patents for the same factors." --S.L-JD.

TAKING GOOD SCIENCE AND SOUND MANAGEMENT TO THE BANK

May 26, 1991

TAKING GOOD SCIENCE AND SOUND MANAGEMENT TO THE BANK

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of