AstraZeneca's brave move to go solo with Crestor applauded

In a move to maximize returns, and taking a bold gamble, AstraZeneca hasannounced that it plans to launch its promising new cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor (rosuvastatin), which it recently filed with the US Food and Drug Administration (Marketletter July 2), without the help of a marketing partner.

AstraZeneca is thought to have received co-marketing proposals for Crestor, which analysts believe has a peak sales potential of up to $4-$5 billion some years after its expected launch in 2002, from several pharmaceutical giants such as American Home Products, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb. According to the Financial Times, the latter will be disappointed as the bid was an attempt to make up for the lack of new drugs in its own pipeline. AstraZeneca said that although it had received good proposals, they would have helped to absorb only some near-term costs, and did not offer the best longer-term value creation.

The UK firm's choice to go it alone was based, according to the Wall Street Journal, on strong clinical results for the drug reported earlier this year, a significantly-expanded sales force and the early US marketing success of its new faster-acting ulcer drug Nexium (esomeprazole), which has a 10.7% share of the proton pump inhibitor market. However, the company's chief executive, Tom McKillop, said that "in the end it came down to confidence" in the profile of the product.