Japanese pharma giant Astellas is on the prowl to boost its drug pipeline through acquisitions – chasing lower cost, early stage deals in favor of more advanced products thanks to the swelling of biotech valuations in the past three years.
“I have to say in recent times the cost of later-stage deals has been phenomenal, so we’ve placed a lot of bets on the earlier side of the portfolio because we have a fairly full late pipeline,” Sef Kurstjens, head of global development at Astellas, told Reuters.
This is in keeping with many pharma companies of late, which are shying away from the multibillion dollar acquisitions. In July, Shire CEO Flemming Ornskov basically said the same thing. Meaning: Shire has already rejected some deals because of overinflated valuations, and that the company would approach deals in a financially disciplined manner.
“We are prepared to wait for the right opportunity at the right valuation,” Ornskov said in an earnings call.
Similarly, Johnson & Johnson is actively looking to partner out, as it told MedCity News at the AdvaMed 2015 conference in San Diego last week.
Astellas’ interest in the early stage can be seen in last week’s $300 million deal with Pennsylvania’s Immunomic Therapeutics, in which Astellas exclusively licensed the startup’s experimental anti-allergy vaccines.
The company is looking to expand use of its prostate cancer drug Xtandi, as well as develop experimental products for cancer, bladder problems, muscle diseases, anemia and ophthalmology.
“We’re never satisfied with what we have, so we are looking at strategies to augment the portfolio,” Kurstjens told Reuters. “Nothing is off the table for us.”
