Status: 11/14/2022 3:46 p.m
The German biotech company MorphoSys and its partner, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, have suffered a major setback in research. A potential drug to treat Alzheimer’s has not proven effective.
The biotech company MorphoSys from the Munich suburb of Planegg and the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche have to cope with a setback in research into an Alzheimer’s drug. In two large-scale phase III clinical studies, the antibody gantenerumab was able to slow down the deterioration in performance in areas such as memory, orientation skills, problem-solving skills, hobbies and personal hygiene. However, these results were not statistically significant, it said. Also, the protein deposits typical of Alzheimer’s, the so-called plaques, in the brain could not be reduced as much as hoped.
MorphoSys CEO Jean-Paul Kress was “disappointed” with the results. Roche is a license partner for the drug candidate from MorphoSys, which originally developed the antibody.
Long series of setbacks
A setback like the one now experienced by MorphoSys and Roche is anything but unusual in drug research and especially in the field of Alzheimer’s. In the past years and decades, a three-digit number of potential drugs failed before they could be approved by the authorities. Even 116 years after its discovery by the German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer, there is still no effective therapy for this insidious disease, which is often diagnosed too late.
The example of the US pharmaceutical manufacturer Biogen and its Japanese partner Eisaij show the current status of Alzheimer’s medication. In September, the two companies reported a 27 percent slowdown in cognitive decline in the treated patients for their drug candidate lecanemab – but there was no talk of a full recovery. Nevertheless, the active substance could be approved in the USA as early as the beginning of next year.
Millions of patients – trillions in costs
According to calculations by the Alzheimer’s Disease International organization, 139 million people worldwide could develop Alzheimer’s by 2050. Around 55 million people are already affected by the disease. In addition, the global cost of illness could double to around two trillion US dollars by 2030. Thus, successful treatment would not only avoid much human suffering for patients and their families, but huge sums of money would be saved in health care.
The expectations of Roche and MorphoSys were correspondingly high. The global cooperation agreement concluded with Roche in 2000 stipulates that the Swiss company will be fully responsible for the clinical development and any marketing of gantenerumab. Experts had expected the active ingredient candidates to achieve maximum annual sales of up to ten billion US dollars a year if they were approved. According to previous information, MorphoSys was entitled to tiered royalties of between 5.5 and 7.0 percent of net sales as well as further performance-related payments upon the achievement of so-called milestones in research. Last year, MorphoSys had sales of almost EUR 180 million.
After the announcement, the MorphoSys share in the electronic trading system XETRA of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange collapsed by almost a third to EUR 14.05. That was the lowest level in twelve years. With a minus of around percent, the Roche share was hit much less hard. However, with an annual turnover of around 60 billion euros, the Swiss group has a much broader base.