Not much love between rivals in UK Big Pharma at the moment. Jean-Pierre Garnier, the chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, issued a thinly veiled attack on AstraZeneca (led by American CEO David Brennan) yesterday when he criticised the high prices that some pharmaceutical companies were paying for preclinical drugs.
“Why would you pay big money for an early stage drug?” Dr Garnier asked journalists after a briefing on GSK’s annual results.
“Why would you pay big money for an early stage drug?” Dr Garnier asked journalists after a briefing on GSK’s annual results.
“Over 90 per cent of them fail . . . I think these people are going to regret it.”
Garnier’s comments came days after AstraZeneca, his company’s UK arch rival, announced that it would pay up to $810 million (£410 million) to license two drugs for smoker’s cough and obesity that have not yet entered Phase I clinical trials.
Garnier’s comments came days after AstraZeneca, his company’s UK arch rival, announced that it would pay up to $810 million (£410 million) to license two drugs for smoker’s cough and obesity that have not yet entered Phase I clinical trials.
Insider's view: AZ have had to buy in risky molecules. Their own research cupboard is bare! It's going to be a tough time for them as in 2008 the loss of the Seroquel patent outstrips the pipeline upside.
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