Axys : The Shape Of Things To Come For Biotech ?

5 November 1997

The news that US biotechnology companies Arris Pharmaceuticals andSequana Therapeutics are merging to form Axys Pharmaceuticals, in a deal valued at $166 million, presents the biotechnology industry in an intriguing new light. The agreement has in effect created the first biotechnology company that has capabilities extending from gene to drug.

According to Arris chief executive John Walker, who will hold that position in Axys, the deal is a seminal event in the biotechnology industry, as it unites companies of similar size which complement each other, in that "where Sequana ends, Arris begins." It is a view echoed by Kevin Kinsella, president of Sequana, who argues that the new group is the only company with critical mass extending from genomics through to clinical development, and "has built the essential bridge to allow identification of the genetic base of a disease and design of compounds that will actually modulate the gene or its protein by-products."

Alliances In Place Having the technologies from genetic analysis (Sequana) to drug development (Arris) in place, the new company can also count on a significant number of well-established strategic alliances with virtually all the major pharmaceutical companies. Among others, Sequana has ongoing discovery programs in asthma (Boehringer Ingelheim) and type II diabetes/obesity (Glaxo Wellcome), as well as the latest, and most lucrative, deal with Parke-Davis in the central nervous system area (see page 3).

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