Amgen at ASCO: Surprise! There's More to Its Story than Prolia
Despite all the buzz about recently-approved osteoporosis drug Prolia (denosumab), Amgen (AMGN) proved at this week's big cancer confab that it has a few other tricks up its sleeves.
Prolia has been dubbed the white knight set to save Amgen's flagging core anemia franchise. Its approval in osteoporosis is expected to bring upwards of $1 billion annually, and future approvals in oncology (reducing fracture risk in bone cancer and preventing cancer from spreading to the bone) could be worth some $3 billion more.
So it was expected that a fair amount of attention at this week's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting would focus on denosumab data in cancer, including a Phase III study showing the drug's superiority to competitor Zometa (zoledronic acid, from Novartis) in delaying fractures associated with prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone.
But that wasn't all Amgen had to offer. The big biotech also got some buzz around Phase II data showing that experimental IGF-1R-targeted antibody AMG 479 improved survival in pancreatic cancer. The same trial also showed good data with another new Amgen antibody, conatumumab.
A separate Phase II trial in ovarian cancer highlighted the promise of AMG 386, a so-called peptibody that stops tumors from growing new blood vessels.
All told, Leerink Swann analyst Joshua Schimmer noted that Amgen has 13 experimental drugs in Phase II trials. Both AMG479 and AMG386 are now poised to move into Phase III. With so much in the pipeline, it's "only a matter of time" before something else emerges with the potential to drive revenue growth, Schimmer wrote in a research note.
So while denosumab may be the lone pipeline superstar for now, it probably won't be for long. In Schimmer's words:
We strongly doubt that AMGN will spend upward of $20B in cumulative R&D over the next 10 years and have nothing else to show for it beyond Dmab.Related:
- Amgen's New Osteoporosis Drug: It May Not Fly Under Healthcare Reform
- Amgen Earnings: D-Mab Cancer Data Could Be the Biggest Biotech Event of 2010
- Amgen Gets More Good Data with Bone Drug Prolia, but Other Risks Await