La Jolla Pharmaceutical kicked off a critical and defining year for the company in positive fashion yesterday by signing a broad development and commercialisation deal worth up to $289m with BioMarin Pharmaceutical for Riquent, La Jolla’s phase III candidate to treat lupus nephritis.With La Jolla’s shares having touched a record low of just 44 cents last month the BioMarin deal has injected much needed life back into the stock, which surged 93% to $1.45 in early trade today. Having eased short-term financing concerns, shareholders will now be focused on two interim efficacy analyses from the phase III trial, due in the first quarter and mid-year, to build on the momentum provided by the BioMarin deal, in what is suddenly becoming a competitive therapeutic area.
This content is written, edited and published by EP Vantage and is distributed by EvaluatePharma Ltd. All queries regarding the content should be directed to: news@epvantage.com
EP Vantage is a unique, forward-looking, news analysis service tailored to the needs of pharma and finance professionals. EP Vantage focuses on the events that will define the future of companies, products and therapy areas, with detailed financial analysis of events in real-time, including regulatory decisions, product approvals, licensing deals, patent decisions, M&A.
Drawing on EvaluatePharma, an industry-leading database of actual and forecast product sales and financials, EP Vantage gives readers the insight to make value-enhancing decisions.