Three months after Biogen announced its $5.6bn buyout of rare disease specialist Apellis Pharmaceuticals, the former has decided to cull most of the biotech’s research pipeline and cut a small number of research staff from the team.
This development, which was first reported by Endpoints, will see Biogen stop investment into a large portion of Apellis’ legacy research programmes. While the pharmaceutical company has not divulged specific details on the programmes it plans to cull, the Phase II study evaluating Apellis’ marketed rare disease therapy, Empaveli (pegcetacoplan) in delayed graft function (DGF) is now listed as ‘suspended’ on ClinicalTrials.gov due to an “ongoing strategic evaluation of the programme”.
The same is true for the Empaveli trial in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) – a rare type of kidney disease, with ClinicalTrials.gov listing a similar reason for the study’s suspension. This one, however, also cites “recruitment challenges including screening failures” as an additional reason.
On the operations side, Biogen also plans to cut some roles with Apellis' research team, as per Endpoints.
It is unclear what will happen to Apellis’ preclinical arsenal, which includes an undisclosed RNA-based therapy, as well as an oral complement inhibitor and a duo of gene-edited therapies, will also face the chop.
A Biogen spokesperson did not immediately respond to Pharmaceutical Technology’s request for comment on the pipeline review.
Biogen is still betting on the success of a Phase II trial (NCT07215390) involving approved eye disease therapy, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan) in combination with APL-3007, an RNA interference (RNAi), complement C3 expression inhibitor,. The study, which is exploring the combination’s potential in progressive eye disease, geographic atrophy (GA), is currently listed as ‘recruiting’ on its ClinicalTrials.gov page.
Biogen’s pipeline thinning suggests that the company is primarily focusing on the commercial value offered by Apellis’ approved medicine, pegcetacoplan. The company markets the medicine as Empaveli for its three rare disease indications and as Syfovre for GA. According to GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center, the pegcetacoplan franchise will bring in $785m in 2032.
Mixed sentiments on Biogen’s Apellis takeover
When Biogen originally agreed to acquire Apellis, the pharmaceutical giant’s stock value took a 4% dip from $187.57 at market close on 30 March to $179.46 at opening on 31 March, after the news debuted – a shift that William Blair analysts put down to the price that Biogen paid in the takeover.
Despite this trend, the team at William Blair noted at the time that the buyout had the potential to add $1.54bn in sales to Biogen’s topline by 2030, while offsetting the near-term drop in sales from Biogen’s multiple sclerosis (MS) franchise and providing longer-term growth prospects.
In another bid to raise its financials amid declining neurology sales, Biogen recently acquired immunology specialist, RayThera, for $1bn.
