Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) has started reaping results of the joint ventures with pharmaceutical companies for cancer-curing drugs, according to Chief Executive Officer Robert J. Hugin. The drug development stage was doing well, and the company is optimistic of conducting human trials in the upcoming 18 months. The company inked ten results to put into action their plan to cut down the dependence on Revlimid, a cancer drug. The capital that the company has got from these deals is proving productive in helping the company predict a speedy foray into the market.
Acceleron Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:XLRN) and Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AGIO) partnerships have already resulted in the development of three products that are in late stages of clinical trials. The company will start the final stage for seeking approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) soon.
Celgene Deals
In April 2015, Celgene entered a $450 million deal with an AstraZeneca Plc subsidiary for development and commercialization of a drug to treat hematologic malignancies. This collaboration will help the company enhance its hematology and oncology portfolio. Hugin stated that immune-oncology was relevant to the company as they were not too strong in that sphere earlier. Celgene invested over $222 million in the partnership deals in 2014. With this, it has joined the likes of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), and AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV).
Excellent Strategy
The company’s strategy of partnering with small pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs that were in need for research to take them to the finishing line is brilliant. It has helped the company stay rooted even when the overall industry is not doing too well. This is evident from the Q1 results of the company. It registered a rise in the revenue of $2.08 billion.
The results were lower than the estimations, but the same was due to the lower sales of their lung cancer and psoriasis. The anti-cancer drug, Abraxane has reported $223 million worth sales during the psoriasis treatment, Otezla registered $60 million revenue. Hugin was hopeful that the company will soon be marketing the former in China and the talks with the China Food and Drug Administration were underway.
