Almost 9 years after letters laced with weapons-grade anthrax spores killed 5 people and inflamed fears about bioterrorism, the US still relies on a single anthrax vaccine maker that uses expensive, impractical, decades-old technology.

The company is Emergent BioSolutions, and its BioThrax vaccine is its only product. Emergent has copped $1.4 billion in federal contracts for the vaccine in the last decade alone.

Twice before, the Feds tried to find cheaper anthrax vaccines and increase the number of vaccine suppliers. In 2004, it awarded an $877 million contract to VaxGen, but aggressive lobbying by Emergent and manufacturing problems at VaxGen forced the Feds to void that contract.

A second RFP that was released last year by Barda–the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority–was halted after officials determined that no supplier could produce a vaccine quickly enough.

That was a setback for PharmAthene, a rival to Emergent. PharmAthene claims that heavy lobbying by Emergent scuttled what it thought was a sure win. Emergent spent $4 million in lobbying during 2009 to maintain its monopoly.

BioThrax requires the administration of 5 doses over 18 months, and costs the Feds $120 per person immunized. PharmAthene’s SparVax would cost $45 per person. That vaccine remains in testing, however. In fact, PharmAthene has no products on the market right now.

Barda is also hoping to lure some large consortiums into the field, including one involving Merck, GE and and the University of Pittsburgh, but they remain leery of the risks.

“The country needs an anthrax vaccine that requires fewer injections, produces fewer side effects and is made using modern techniques,” said former Sen. Bob Graham, who co-chaired a federal commission that questioned the nation’s bioterror readiness earlier this year.

UPDATE: At the time this post is being scheduled for publication, the Washington Post is reporting that Emergent BioSolutions will soon announce that it “received a contract worth up to $107 million to ready its anthrax vaccine for large-scale manufacture.

According to Emergent, the contract will pay for the company to develop and obtain regulatory approval for large-scale manufacture of BioThrax.

The award is based on an Emergent proposal that says the company can produce 26 million doses annually, a significant increase from the roughly 7 million to 9 million it generates today.”

Ongoing production problems at the factories of biotech giant Genzyme have caused massive disruptions in the lives of people with Gaucher disease and Fabry disease, a pair of rare, inherited conditions in which enzyme deficiencies allow fatty substances to build-up in the body and damage internal organs.

The factories produce Cerezyme, the enzyme used as replacement therapy for the 1,500 patients with Gaucher disease, and Fabrazyme, the enzyme used to treat about 1,000 patients with Fabry disease.

Genzyme’s production problems began nearly a year ago, after it discovered its main production facility had been contaminated by a virus.

Genzyme initially predicted the shortages would last 2 months, but subsequent glitches have impeded progress. At one point, some vials of the drugs were found to contain particles of fiber, rubber or steel.

The problems are particularly acute for Fabry patients, who can experience cardiac or kidney failure in the absence of drug replacement therapy. Fabry patients have been receiving about 30% of their normal doses during the crisis.

In Gaucher disease, which can cause anemia, bleeding and enlarged livers and spleens, severely affected patients have been receiving full doses of the drug, while others received nothing for months late last year.

“If most businesses run like this they’d be out of business,” one patient, Mark Malone told the New York Times. “Unfortunately, they have the drug we need.”

Henri Termeer, Genzyme’s CEO, acknowledged his company had let patients down. “We have to re-earn our standing with these patients,” he said.

Genzyme says it should be able to supply Cerezyme to all affected patients by May 1. Fabrazyme patients will have to wait until at least later this summer. Genzyme stock, which traded above $72 last year, now trades in the low 50s.

Genzyme booked a $175 million hit to its first quarter earnings in anticipation of a fine it expects the FDA to levy for the mess-up.

The Food and Drug Administration will require Biotech giant Amgen to implement a risk management program designed to warn physicians and patients about the risks and benefits of using its blockbuster drugs, Epogen and Aranesp to treat chemotherapy-related anemia. 
 
The drugs, which are known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, help mitigate anemia in cancer patients by stimulating bone marrow production of red blood cells

The new FDA regs require Amgen to assure that physicians complete training designed to teach them how best to use ESAs in cancer patients. Amgen must also assure that patients get a medication guide about the drugs, and that both doctors and patients must sign a form indicating that risks and benefits of ESAs have been discussed prior to treatment.
 
“This new risk management program will help ensure that patients and health care professionals have fully considered the benefits and risks of using ESAs,” Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research told BurrillReport.
 
Epogen and Aranesp netted $5.8 billion in sales for Amgen last year, which is down nearly 15% year over year. The sales falloff actually began in 2007, when the FDA first issued safety warnings about the ESAs. The warnings suggested that ESAs may accelerate tumor growth and increase the risk of cardiovascular complications like heart attacks and strokes.

ESAs are FDA-approved for anemia associated with kidney failure, but the new program does not apply to that patient population.

Should companies be allowed to patent genes? They are right now, and an HHS-advisory committee has warned that such practices threaten medical progress and could drive critical bio-medical research overseas in search of friendlier legal environments.

The HHS Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society also said in a report dated February 5 that the cost of genetic analysis has plummeted recently to a point where there is substantial potential to improve health using gene-based technologies.

But existing patent laws pose serious obstacles to “the promise of these developments,” according to the report. As evidence for this assertion, the report cites several labs that run multiplex gene testing but do not report the results regarding patent-protected genes to patients or clinicians, because they worry about being sued.

The Committee recommended that the US should create broad exemptions from liability for infringement of patent claims on genes used in diagnostic testing for patients, as well as in the use of patent-protected genes in research.

The Committee also recommended that guidelines be established to promote non-exclusive licensing for genomic and diagnostic genetic technologies, improved transparency in licensing, and creation of an advisory board focused on gene patenting and licensing practices and their impact on health.

The report was ordered by HHS Secretary Sebelius at a time when a bevy of lawsuits have put judges in the position of deciding whether gene patents are enforceable.

 “Patenting has moved upstream; instead of covering only commercial products, patents can now control foundational research discoveries, claiming the purified form of genes. Fragmented ownership of these patents on genes by multiple competing entities substantially threatens clinical and research use,” according to the report. “Fragmented ownership may create problems such as patent thickets, blocking patents, high transaction costs, royalty stacking, and holdouts.” (more…)

MannKind Corporation recently accounced that it has encountered a disappointing setback in its efforts to bring Afrezza to market. The FDA, it turns out, wasn’t able to sign-off on the company’s new drug application for the ultra rapid-acting form of inhaled insulin by January 16, the date the FDA had previously set for itself as a deadline for making this decision.

Apparently, the FDA has not completed inspecting the insulin manufacturing facilities of N.V. Organon, a third-party supplier to MannKind.

The FDA “must complete this inspection before it can finalize its review of our NDA,” said Alfred Mann, Chairman and CEO of MannKind. “To our knowledge, all other FDA inspections are complete. There are no pending answers to any FDA questions or other deliverables due on MannKind’s part.”

The FDA did not set a new date for completing the NDA.

Just one week before the FDA’s surprising announcement, Mannkind had suggested that FDA approval was in the bag.

According to Pharmalot, Mann has bet nearly half of his $2 billion fortune on Afrezza. Many competitors have given up on inhaled insulin products since Pfizer’s fiasco with a similar product, Exubera.

Some analysts were skeptical about the prospects for Afrezza in light of the recent surprise. For example, Hapoalim Securities’ Jon LeCroy said, “the fact that there is now no definite time-line for approval (is) a major negative, as drugs that have a missed PDUFA often take months to years to receive a final decision.”

However, Simos Simeonidis at Rodman & Renshaw believes there is a 75% chance the FDA will approve the drug this year.

Afrezza achieves peak insulin levels within 12-14 minutes of administration, which mimics the release of meal-time insulin in healthy individuals.

For at least 9 months, Biotech has been buffeted by headwinds associated with the Great Economic Crisis. But now, a streak of positive trial results and some good-looking deals seems to have revivified the sector. At least a little.

The latest heartening development comes from Exelixis, which announced that it has licensed 2 experimental oncology drugs to Sanofi-Aventis in a deal notable for an upfront payment of $140 million to the South San Francisco-based company.

That followed last week’s announcement by MAP Pharmaceuticals that late stage results from a trial of its migraine drug were strongly positive.

In other news, Amgen agreed to exercise its option on Cytokinetics’ experimental heart-failure drug, a decision worth $50 million to the Biotech company, and J & J agreed to pay $900 million to Cougar Biotechnology for its experimental prostate-cancer drug.

That’s not even counting Dendreon, which raised $221 million in a secondary stock offering after astounding most observers with strongly positive results on Provenge, its prostate-cancer vaccine.

The uptick follows a prolonged slump prompted by the economic swoon which cut Biotech’s umbilical cord into the financial markets. Particularly hard hit were small, undercapitalized companies.

Many thought Big Pharma would snap up such companies, but what little M & A activity did transpire in recent months featured drug giants feasting on themselves instead, as exemplified by Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth and Merck’s merger with the Plough.

“The process we’ve been going through has been painful for the small companies,” Barclays Capital’s Jim Birchenough told the Wall Street Journal.  Maybe we’re seeing “the beginning of a better environment,” added the analyst, who recently upgraded his rating on the sector from neutral to positive.

What recession?

Clovis Pharmaceuticals, a Boulder-based start-up bred to acquire, develop and commercialize oncology products, has just raised $145 million, the largest such financing this year.

Clovis’ management team is the same one that grew Pharmion into a colossus that was snapped up by Celgene in 2008 for $2.9 billion.

Its financing comes from essentially the same VCs that backed Pharmion.
 
The timing of Clovis’ big raise is no accident. The Great Economic Crisis has left hundreds of Biotech companies in possession of promising molecules and not enough cash to develop them. Clovis, arguably, has its pick of the litter. 
 
“There’s a significant need for this type of company in almost any financial circumstance because the discovery abilities of our industry have really exceeded the development capacity of our industry,” Patrick Mahaffy, president and CEO of Clovis told BurrillReport.

“We (are) well capitalized…and many other companies are struggling…companies that may have wanted to be or had been an acquirer, or buyer, or partner of rights, have backed away,” he summarized.
 
Versant Ventures participated in the financing. For its managing director, Brian Atwood, the real appeal in the deal was Clovis’ management team, with which he worked as a Pharmion investor. “The guiding principle…for our firm is to find great management teams,” he confirmed.
 
Accompanying Versant in the round are Domain Associates, New Enterprise Associates, Aberdare Ventures, ProQuest Investments, Abingworth and Frazier Healthcare Ventures. All but the latter had invested in Pharmion.

Accompanying Mahaffy at Clovis will be CMO Andrew Allen, EVP of Regulatory Affairs and Technical Operations Gillian Ivers-Read, and CFO Erle Mast. All are reprising their roles at Pharmion, which Mahaffy founded 9 years ago. 

Biotech giant Genzyme has shuttered a drug production complex after discovering a virus in a bioreactor used to produce its best selling drugs, Cerezyme and Fabrazyme.

The virus, Vesivirus 2117, is not thought to harm humans, according to company officials. It does affect growth of the cells used to produce the drugs, however. The tainted plant will stay closed for at least 6 weeks while decontamination takes place.

For about 8,000 people worldwide, the drugs are life-savers, although the temporary interruption in production should not pose significant risks to them.

Cerezyme is used for Gaucher disease, a hereditary condition in which an inactive enzyme causes fats to accumulate in multiple organs. 

Fabrazyme is used to treat Fabry disease, another inherited enzyme deficiency that leads to fat build-ups in various organ systems as well.

As a result of the shutdown, Cerezyme patients could miss one or 2 treatments. Those taking Fabrazyme could miss up to 4 doses.

Patients usually receive IV infusions of the drugs every 2 weeks. Any missed doses will not result in significant health sequellae, since it takes more than a few missed treatments to result in significant reaccumulation of the fatty substances.

“It is not a life-and-death situation we’re dealing with here,’’ Henri Termeer, the company’s chief executive told the Boston Globe.

The production glitch will cost the company $200-$300 million in lost revenue, however. Last year, Cerezyme garnered $1.2 billion in revenue, about  a quarter of the company’s total. Fabrazyme generated $500 million.

“This is an unusual event, but they’ll solve it and go on,” Leerink Swann’s John Sullivan told the Globe. “Traditionally, in cases like these, you worry about a market share shift. With these products, that is not a consideration.’’

What a long, strange trip it’s been for Dendreon.

Three years ago, positive results from a trial of Provenge, its immune therapy drug for prostate cancer, prompted an FDA advisory panel to recommend that it be approved.

Instead, the FDA ordered another study.

Last fall, the company announced interim results of the second study which showed the treatment group had 22% fewer deaths, but the results were met with skepticism and the company was told to finish out the trial.

Well, final results are in and Dendreon shareholders are celebrating all the way to the bank.

Provenge extended survival in late-stage prostate cancer patients with no major side effects.

The company plans to seek FDA approval for the juice later this year.

Shares of the heavily shorted stock closed at $22.94, up 94% on the day of the announcement.

Just before that, there were 2 “sell” ratings and 5 “hold” ratings among the 7 analysts who follow the biotechnology company. One analyst had set a $1 price target.

Now the chatter is which company in Big Pharmaville will acquire Dendreon and for how much.

After all, the list of pharmaceutical companies facing declining sales, generic competition and withering pipelines is longer than the line outside the toilet in coach on a flight from Boston to San Fran.

“Provenge could be on the market by mid next year, (it) could be instantly accretive to earnings,” said Joe Pantginis, of Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.

And Dendreon maintains full worldwide distribution rights for Provenge, making it even more appealing as an acquisition target.

“There are very few unencumbered assets (like Dendreon) out there,” said a salivating Sven Borho.

He’s a portfolio manager for OrbiMed Advisors which holds a cool 2 million shares of Dendreon.

Valencia, California- based MannKind has submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA to market AFRESA, an inhaled insulin product for the treatment of adults with diabetes mellitus. 
 
MannKind’s actions come in the aftermath of a spectacular flame-out by Exubera, Pfizer’s inhaled insulin product that was once touted as a blockbuster but ended up being pulled from the market in 2007 after physicians rejected it as too costly and no better than injectible insulin. 

“If you have low impact needles and very good regimens that work in my clinic or my hospital, why should I change what I do?” Michael Schulman, an editor with ChangeWave Research told BurrillReport at the time.
 
Exubera was also saddled with safety concerns. Some worried the stuff diminished lung function. Then, about a year ago Pfizer alerted physicians that 6 of 4,740 Exubera users developed lung cancer. All had been cigarette smokers, but the fat lady sang after that.
 
MannKind has addressed the safety concerns with data showing that AFRESA doesn’t accumulate in pulmonary tissue as did its predecessor, and that it doesn’t affect lung function.

And MannKind intends to pitch AFRESA as having physiologic effects that mimic endogenously released insulin more closely than its injectible counterparts.  
 
AFRESA has a more rapid onset of action and is cleared more quickly than any other exogenously administered insulin.

It achieves peak effect 12-14 minutes after inhalation. If it’s taken at the right time, that pattern matches almost exactly the effects of endogenously released insulin release in response to a meal.
 
MannKind has begun discussions with potential distribution partners.

“There’s a lot of interest,” MannKind VP Matthew Pfeffer told Burrill. “The world changes when you have positive phase III data and you have filed an NDA.”

23.6 million people in the US and 246 million people worldwide have diabetes.