Dive Brief:
- BioMarin's talazoparib (BMN673) is a PARP inhibitor intended to treat advanced breast cancer with BRCA1 and BRCA 2 mutations that is currently in phase III trials.
- Medivation is buying BMN673 for $570 million to bolster its oncology portfolio. It has been successful with Xtandi, which is used to treat prostate cancer.
- BioMarin has been in the news lately for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drug, drisapersen, which is currently under regulatory review in the U.S. and the E.U. The reason for the sale? So that the firm can focus on its true ambitions: rare diseases.
Dive Insight:
Focus, focus, focus. That's what it comes down to for both Medivation and BioMarin.
For Medivation, the addition of a phase III PARP inhibitor with an advanced breast cancer indication would not only expand its oncology portfolio, but there is the possibility that it could broaden the indication for both drugs down the line.
As for BioMarin, the focus has been on gaining approval for drisapersen in what has been a highly publicized campaign to get a treatment approved for the very rare disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which mainly affects boys and young male teenagers, wastes their muscles, confines them to wheelchairs, and usually kills them by the time they are in their twenties.
In addition, BioMarin is focusing on development of a drug to treat dwarfism, vosorotide.