New York, Nov 12th – GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Thursday it expects its experimental lupus drug Benlysta to be a “very major” product and contribute meaningfully to the company’s bottom line. Glaxo and partner Human Genome Sciences Inc reported results from two clinical trials showing that patients taking Benlysta in combination with standard treatments experienced a significant improvement in symptoms compared with those taking standard treatments and a placebo.
“I believe this is going to be a very significant medicine for GSK and we are ramping up in anticipation of that,” said Andrew Witty, Glaxo’s chief executive, at the Reuters Health Summit in New York.
If approved, the drug will be the first treatment for lupus — a complex disease which causes the immune system to attack the body’s own tissue and organs — in 50 years.
Analysts have predicted the drug could generate anywhere from $1 billion to $4 billion annually.
“When you see a wide range of estimates it is probably a good thing to pick something in the middle until you get some greater intelligence,” Witty said. “Do I subscribe to numbers at either end of this huge range? Probably not at this point in time. Are we going to invest in this medicine on the assumption it will be very significant for the company? Absolutely.”
Earlier this month, Glaxo, based in the United Kingdom, and Rockville, Maryland-based Human Genome Sciences reported data from the second of two trials needed for the drug to be considered for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The second trial met its main goal, but the data was not quite as strong as in the first trial, which some analysts found disappointing. Witty, however, was unconcerned.
“Both studies are landmark events,” he said. “I think we are on the way to something quite special.” ( reuters.com)
