The protein responsible for nearly $100B in cancer drug deals

One class of proteins was at the heart of nearly $100 billion worth oncology M&A over the past decade, according to a new report.

They’re called kinases, and their job is to tack phosphate groups onto various molecules. Like a switch, the reaction can make the receiving molecule more or less active. Kinases therefore play an important role in cell signaling, yet research has shown they can also facilitate cancer growth.

With this in mind, some of the world’s largest drug companies have deployed billions of dollars for access to kinase-blocking therapies. In a report published Thursday, investment bank SVB Leerink estimated that 20 of the more than 70 oncology-focused M&A deals that took place since 2010 centered around kinase inhibitor assets. Such deals accounted for upwards of $97 billion, or approximately 37% of the total oncology M&A deal value.

A number of those acquisitions are already driving sales growth.

M&A transactions driven by oncology-focused kinase inhibitors

DATE	ACQUIRER	TARGET	DEAL VALUE	LEAD ASSETS	KINASE
March 2010	Astellas	OSI Pharma	~$4 billion	Tarceva	EGFR
June 2010	Sanofi	TargaGen	Up to ~$560 million	Inrebic	JAK2
Feb. 2011	Gilead	Calistoga Pharma	Up to ~$600 million	Zydelig	PI3K
Feb. 2011	Daiichi	Plexxikon	Up to ~$935 million	Zelboraf	BRAF
Dec. 2011	Takeda	Intellikine	Up to ~$310 million	INK128, INK1117	mTOR, PI3K
Jan. 2012	Celgene	Avila Therapeutics	Up to ~925 million	CC-292	BTK
Dec. 2012	Gilead	YM Biosciences	~$510 million	Momelotinib	JAK1/2
Aug. 2013	Amgen	Onyx Pharma	~$10.4 billion	Nexavar, Stivarga, Kyprolis	VEGFR, FLT3/RAF, PI (non-kinase)
Nov. 2013	Clovis	EOS	Up to ~$420 million	Lucitanib	VEGFR / PDGFR / FGFR
April 2014	Novartis	GSK Oncology	Up to ~$16 billion	Tafinlar, Mekinist, Votrient, Tykerb	BRAF, MEK. VEGFR, HER2
Sept. 2014	Daiichi	Ambit Biosciences	Up to ~$410 million	Quizartinib	FLT3
March 2015	AbbVie	Pharmacyclics	~$21 billion	Imbruvica	BTK
Dec. 2015	AstraZeneca	Acerta Pharma	Up to ~$7 billion	Calquence	BTK
Jan. 2017	Takeda	Ariad	~$5.2 billion	Iclusig, Alunbrig	BCR-ABL, ALK
Dec. 2017	Roche	Ignyta	~$1.7 billion	Rozlytrek	ROS1 & NTRK
Jan. 2018	Celgene	Impact Biosciences	Up to ~$7 billion	Fedratinib	JAK2
Jan. 2018	SeaGen	Cascadian	~$614 million	Tucatinib	HER2
May 2018	Lilly	AurKa Pharma	Up to ~$575 million	AK-01	Aurora kinase A
Jan. 2019	Lilly	Loxo Oncology	~$8 billion	Vitrakvi, LOXO-292, LOXO-305	NTRK, RET, BTK
June 2019	Pfizer	Array BioPharma	~$11.4 billion	Braftovi, Mektovi	BRAF, MEK

SOURCE: SVB Leerink, citing company reports, Evaluate Pharma and BioMedTracker. Chart shows original deals, some of which have been superseded by later transactions.

Imbruvica, or ibrutinib, is a Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved to treat multiple blood cancers. Last year, AbbVie recorded over $3.5 billion in revenue from the drug, to which Johnson & Johnson also holds rights.

SVB Leerink found that, more than any other kinase drug, BTK inhibitors accounted for the most M&A over the last 10 years. Four deals added up to about $37 billion and have resulted in two marketed products thus far.

“With Imbruvica currently the best-selling kinase inhibitor by global revenue and consensus anticipating $8.6bn in sales for the entire class by 2024, it is unsurprising to see the greatest deal volume and value accounted for by the BTK inhibitor class,” analysts wrote.

The global kinase inhibitor market sits at roughly $33 billion and, according to consensus estimates cited by Leerink, is poised to grow about 13% annually to surpass $50 billion by 2022.

This week alone, the Food and Drug Administration approved two more kinase inhibitors in Roche’s entrectinib and Celgene’s fedratinib.

The agency on Thursday cleared entrectinib, branded as Rozlytrek, for patients older than 12 with solid tumors that test positive for NTRK fusions, as well as certain lung cancer patients. Roche set the wholesale acquisition cost on Rozlytrek a little above $17,000 per month for adults.

Then, on Friday, regulators gave a thumbs up to fedratinib​, or Inrebic, for patients with specific types of myelofibrosis.

https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/meet-the-protein-responsible-for-nearly-100b-in-cancer-drug-deals/561097/