As we have found Big Pharma is not interested in the development of novel products despite the media buzz it is created. However Big Pharma has to invest some amount of capital in its own R&D or just buy the companies possessing novel technologies. A very illustrative example is presented in this article:
The region’s biotechnology industry hit a fever pitch five years ago this summer after a series of acquisitions, none of them more staggering than when British drugmaker AstraZeneca shelled out $15.6 billion for Gaithersburg-based MedImmune.
The deal at the time left some in the industry, especially locals, celebrating the hefty sticker price and others scratching their head — was MedImmune really worth more than the gross domestic product of many developing countries?
Five years later, the jury may still be out. While AstraZeneca has made MedImmune the hub of its biologics division, plying it with additional scientists and resources, a blockbuster drug that could justify, and recoup, the purchase price has yet to come to market.
Here we can see that Astra Zeneca is par excellence Big Pharma, it is acted exactly in the expected way! AZ managed:
1. Accomplish acquisition and spend $15.6b! (Sure, Big Pharma - big bucks!) Now everybody (public out there and media itself) can see that AZ invests in novel technologies! The message was created: “AZ has obtained expertise in new medicinal area”.
2. No new medicinal products were developed.
Very smart! I hope that Astra Zeneca will survive the patent cliff crisis and will show us other exiting tricks.
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