< PreviousTALKING MEDICINES Q&A 10 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Tell us about Talking Medicines? Formed in 2013, Talking Medicines is the world’s first social intelligence company designed specifically for the pharmaceutical industry. At Talking Medicines, we capture, curate and structure the global voice of the patient on social media, forums and connected devices, mapped to a curated database of 130,000 regulated global medicines. By translating that voice into actionable intelligence, we help pharma deliver a greater return on investment for marketing, and better health outcomes for patients. Talking Medicines has recently developed PatientMetRx, an AI- powered social intelligence service which will give the world’s leading drug brands insights on patient experience. Can you tell us more about why pharma needs a platform like this for the sector to move forward? For a long time, there has not been a direct relationship between pharma health professionals and patients due to regulatory and compliance barriers which are in place to protect patients. Whilst these limitations are in place for all the right reasons, not having a direct relationship with patients has meant that it has been very difficult for drug developers to understand confidence in their product and learn about user experience to improve development and expand support available to patients. The data driven tools that other industries use to measure customer experience haven’t been available to pharma at scale and the industry has relied on indirect feedback from clinicians, patient advocacy or ad hoc focus groups. The pharmaceutical sector spends $30 billon on marketing each year in the US alone without really knowing if that investment is doing any good, PatientMetRx allows pharma companies to fill that intelligence gap with reliable data that will help drive decisions for the business. How does PatientMetRx work and what does it provide customers? PatientMetRx uses text mining technologies, collected from a multitude of online channels from high volume sites such as Reddit and Twitter to more specific patient centric data sources such as forums or connected devices. This data is then processed by EVA, our proprietary AI machine which combines machine learning and natural language processing technologies to filter text at scale, isolate the voice of the patient, and finally match that voice to a curated database of 130,000 regulated global medicines. By blending data available through a variety of different sources, we are able to make meaningful evaluations on patient confidence and provide social intelligence for the world’s leading drugs brands on a scale and depth never before possible. Designed for the Pharma sector with awareness of their regulatory and compliance challenges, PatientMetRx delivers high quality sourced data delivered on an easy-to-use online dashboard. What can pharma marketing professionals expect and how can they use the data provided through PatientMetRx within their business? PatientMetRx distils what patients are saying online and more importantly, what they are feeling, into powerful data insights which are fully pharma compliant. What we’re able to do with PatientMetRx is de-risk social data collection for pharma by offering arm’s length and agile data collection from wherever the patient is speaking and decoding it to align to medicines. The service then provides pharma marketing teams with a Patient Confidence Score to benchmark each medicine, offering a systematic way of understanding trending patient confidence in their medicine brands. Users can also view volume for patient voice by selected medicine, customise dates and produce PDF reports. A Pro subscription adds the ability to select up to 10 medicine brands to view trending patient confidence over time. Q&A Jo Halliday, CEO, Talking Medicines Pharma Business International spoke with Jo Halliday, CEO of Talking Medicines, the world’s first social intelligence company designed specifically for the pharmaceutical industry. 10-11.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:49 Page 1Pharma Business International 11 www.pbiforum.net TALKING MEDICINES Q&A PatientMetRx will enable pharma to accurately measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, target budget spend, improve market competitiveness and deliver better health outcomes for patients. Why is now the right time to for pharmaceutical companies utilise technology to better understand the needs of the patient? Like many industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that the pharmaceutical sector has had to adapt their marketing and communication strategies while accelerating digital transformation plans including the adoption of new technologies. Traditional channels for patient experience have been unavailable and so collecting information about a drugs performance has been challenging. Over the past year, businesses are To find our more, visit www.talkingmedicines.com, email info@talkingmedicines.com, or call +44(0) 141 352 98 55. finding that technology can provide enhanced support for optimized patient outcomes and identify opportunities for growth where more traditional methods are not possible. It is clear that science and technology can work together for better patient outcomes and the digital advancements in AI and new ways of collecting information means that now is the time for us to all work together for collective change. 10-11.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:49 Page 2M&A ROUND-UP 12 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net © Shutterstock /Roland Magnusson A flurry 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:50 Page 1Pharma Business International 13 www.pbiforum.net M&A ROUND-UP Jumping straight in at the deep end, we immediately turn our attention to a major multi-billion- dollar deal which just squeezed into the final few weeks of 2020. As it seeks to accelerate its strategic and financial development, AstraZeneca has acquired Boston, Massachusetts-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion. By far and away the biggest acquisition of the year at more than $18 billion dollars ahead of the second, the deal allows AstraZeneca to expand and enhance its immunology presence. “This transaction marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Alexion,” said Alexion CEO Ludwig Hantson. “We bring to AstraZeneca a strong portfolio, innovative rare disease pipeline, a talented global workforce and strong manufacturing capabilities in biologics.” The deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is still subject to receipt of regulatory clearances and approval by shareholders of both companies. As of writing, it is forecast to close in Q3 2021 at which time Alexion shareholders will own c. fifteen per cent of the combined company. December also saw Boehringer Ingelheim acquire NBE-Therapeutics, a private, clinical-stage Swiss biotech company focused on antibody-drug conjugates and advancing targeted cancer therapies derived from its immune stimulatory iADC™ platform, for €1.18 billion. The price tag also includes contingent clinical and regulatory milestones. NBE-Therapeutics’ lead compound NBE-002 is currently in phase I clinical studies for triple negative breast cancer and other solid tumours. Importantly, Boehringer Ingelheim gains access to an innovative and unique platform that it will use to build a leading ADC portfolio and develop potential combinations with other assets from its cancer immunology portfolio. “NBE-Therapeutics’ iADC platform adds exceptional tumour targeting capabilities to our oncology portfolio. Together with our immune cell-targeting assets, this could enable new powerful combinations that will allow for efficacious and durable treatments for patients,” said Michel Pairet, member of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for the company’s Innovation Unit. “This acquisition is a further example of A slew of major pharma deals prevented us from rounding up the 2020 M&A space in our final issue of the year. Instead, we stated that we would use our first issue of the new year, but in the two months since our last issue, there has been a host of multi- billion-dollar deals to explore. of activity 14 Á 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:50 Page 2M&A ROUND-UP 14 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Boehringer Ingelheim’s long-term strategy to enhance our position as an innovator of novel cancer therapies for patients in need.” That very same weak saw Gilead add a promising hepatitis delta virus (HDV) therapeutic to its portfolio with the €1.15 billion acquisition of German biotech company, MYR. The acquisition will provide Gilead with Hepcludex (bulevirtide), a first-in-class treatment for HDV that blocks viral entry into liver cells through binding to NTCP. It was conditionally approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of chronic HDV infection in adults with compensated liver disease in July 2020. MYR has since launched Hepcludex in France, Germany and Austria, and continues to prepare for launch in certain other markets throughout 2021. It is expected that this transaction will accelerate the global launch of Hepcludex. It is the first and currently the only medicine conditionally approved for HDV by the EMA, and MYR anticipates submission for accelerated approval in the United States in the second half of 2021. The FDA has granted the medicine both Orphan Drug and Breakthrough Therapy designations for chronic HDV infection. “HDV is a devastating disease with high unmet medical need. With Hepcludex we have the opportunity to address that need with a first-in-class therapy,” said Daniel O’Day, Chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences. Moving onto 2021 now where French pharma giant Sanofi began the year with a bang by swooping for clinical-stage biopharma company, Kymab, for up to $1.45 billion. The deal – for an upfront payment of around $1.1 billion and up to $350 million based on hitting certain milestones – will provide Sanofi with full global rights to KY1005, a fully human monoclonal antibody that has a novel mechanism of action. KY1005 binds to OX40-Ligand and has the potential to treat a wide variety of immune-mediated diseases and inflammatory disorders. “The Kymab acquisition adds KY1005 to our dynamic pipeline, a potential first- in-class treatment for a range of immune and inflammatory diseases. The novel mechanism of action may provide treatment for patients with suboptimal responses to available therapies,” said Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson. “We understand from our ongoing work in debilitating immunological diseases how critical it is to find the right treatment for each patient. We look forward to rapidly developing this investigational medicine.” As of going to print, the latest billion- dollar-deal saw Eli Lilly complete its $1.040 billion acquisition of Prevail © Shutterstock /Keitma 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:50 Page 3Pharma Business International 15 www.pbiforum.net M&A ROUND-UP © Shutterstock /Sundry Photography Therapeutics. The deal, originally announced in the latter half of December, establishes a new modality for drug discovery and development at Lilly. It will extend its research efforts through the creation of a gene therapy program that will be anchored by Prevail’s portfolio of clinical-stage and preclinical neuroscience assets. Comparing Q1 2021 to 2020 will make for interesting reading. Although the spectre of COVID-19 remains, it’s been a year since the pandemic was announced in earnest. At that time, the industry went on the defensive, leading to a cooling off in the M&A market. But, as can be attested to with our last few round-ups, there was a surge in activity in the last quarter of 2020. As we near the end of the Q1 2021, companies continue to expand their reach, both geographically and developmentally, and enhance their portfolios. We expect this trajectory to continue into next quarter, but, come what may, we’ll cover the market in our next issue. Best of the rest Novartis acquires Cadent Novartis has entered an agreement to acquire Cadent Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based neuroscience company for up to $770 million. Novartis will pay $210 million up front and Cadent will be eligible for payments of as much as $560 million upon meeting certain milestones. The acquisition adds two new clinical stage programs to the Novartis neuroscience portfolio, one for schizophrenia and the other for movement disorders. The agreement also includes a buyout of milestones and royalties for MIJ821, a clinical stage molecule that Novartis licensed exclusively from Cadent in 2015. Novartis is actively developing MIJ821 for treatment resistant depression. Thermo Fisher Scientific acquires viral vector manufacturing business from Novasep Thermo Fisher Scientific has completed the €725 million acquisition of Henogen, the Belgium-based viral vector manufacturing business, from Groupe Novasep. Novasep’s viral vector manufacturing business provides contract manufacturing services for vaccines and therapies to biotechnology companies and large biopharma customers. With two locations in Seneffe and Gosselies, Belgium, Novasep’s viral vector business offers more than 7,000 square meters of state-of-the-art clinical and commercial manufacturing capacity. “Novasep’s viral vector business is an excellent strategic fit as Thermo Fisher continues to expand its capabilities for cell and gene vaccines and therapies globally,” said Michel Lagarde, executive vice president of Thermo Fisher. “The addition of their manufacturing capabilities in Europe complements our four development and manufacturing sites in North America.” The business will be part of the Pharma Services business within the Laboratory Products and Services Segment. 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:50 Page 4COLLABORATION 16 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Coming together Collaboration has been fundamental to the pharmaceutical R&D space for years, as we explore, but in the wake of the COVID outbreak, collaboration is more important than ever. 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:51 Page 1Pharma Business International 17 www.pbiforum.net COLLABORATION Historically, collaborations in the pharmaceutical industry have taken place between companies, pooling their collective resources and expertise, or between academic organisations and other specialist researchers. Consortiums will even come together, bringing the very best from industry and academia to tackle some of the biggest threats facing modern medicine with an emphasis of late on the antimicrobial resistance. There’s also been a growing trend for companies looking outside of traditional pharmaceutical fields and forging relationships with companies in the digital and technology sectors. It’s a sign of the times, certainly, but also demonstrates the shift taking place in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, a diversification into other fields as the lines between medicine and technology become increasingly blurred. Some forecasts predict that digital technologies will unlock billions in savings for pharmaceutical companies, as well as extending their overall reach, scope and efficiency. Arguably the apotheosis of this shift came in 2018 after Amazon acquired online pharmacy business PillPack. Nothing, it seemed, was going to stand in the way of Amazon entering the healthcare market. Wallmart, the US retail giant and one of Amazon’s major rivals, had been circling PillPack as part of its own plans but had to concede defeat when Amazon came along with a much more enticing offer – one just shy of $1 billion. The potentially game-changing move from the ‘Big Four’ technology company has brought together the fields of technology and healthcare like never before and offered a real vote of confidence for the bourgeoning online © Shutterstock /LEDOMST OCK 18 Á 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:51 Page 2COLLABORATION 18 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net pharmacy market. It followed in the wake of Google parent company Alphabet’s own healthcare efforts, with the tech company launching two life sciences companies – Calico and Verily – over the last five years, both of which are focussed on using technology in drug discovery and development. It’s a trend that’s being reciprocated on both sides, as surely as technology companies are moving into the medicine, healthcare and pharmaceutical fields, so too are pharma companies collaborating with technology companies. In the last few years alone, companies including Janssen, Merck, Novartis and, most recently, GlaxoSmithKline, have all started working with companies specialising in artificial intelligence (AI). 2018 was a turning point in the UK especially in the adoption of AI and other disruptive and innovative digital technologies. Towards the end of the year, Business Secretary Greg Clark heralded the opening of five new centres of excellence for digital pathology and imaging – a major push for the nation’s burgeoning AI sector; the year before, for example, investment from venture capital firms into the UK’s AI sector reached a record £998 million. The new centres will together develop more intelligent analysis of medical imaging which, it is hoped, will pave the way for better clinical decisions for patients as well as freeing up staff time for the over- burdened NHS. Crucially, the centres will each be a hive of collaboration, bringing together doctors, businesses and academics. AI has become a growing part of the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors for several years now, but more recently blockchain has been tipped as the next major technology to transform the industry. According to a survey from The Pistoia Alliance, a non-for- profit members’ organisation working to lower barriers to innovation in life science and healthcare R&D through collaboration, more than half of pharmaceutical companies and life sciences professionals are either using or are already experimenting with blockchain. Compare this to the twenty- two per cent when asked in 2017 and the impact the technology is having becomes evident. As is often the case in conversations around blockchain, the traceability benefits tend to steal the limelight. While that’s of course advantageous for the pharmaceutical sector, the technology may have a promising future used in the running and record keeping of clinical trials. The Canadian arm of US tech giant, IBM, has teamed up with pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim in a first- of-its-kind collaboration in Canada exploring this very issue. The two companies endeavour to test the technology in a clinical trial context to see if it provides a decentralised framework that enables data integrity, provenance, transparency and patient empowerment, as well as automation of processes – all of which would ultimately come together to improve overall trial quality and patient safety at reduce cost. A win-win situation from the sounds of it, but there’s a long and winding road of research and regulatory hurdles to overcome before blockchain is ubiquitous across the clinical trials landscape. Collaborations don’t only serve to bring together the best in knowledge and resources, but also to foster innovation. The previously disparate worlds of digital technology and pharmaceutical have over the last few years struck a harmony, and collaborations are now working together towards a common goal. As pharma firms, academia and research organisations come together in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, collaboration has never been more important. 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:51 Page 3Pharma Business International 19 www.pbiforum.net COLLABORATION © Shutterstock /Chokniti Khongchum 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 08/02/2021 13:51 Page 4Next >