Late last week, the FDA announced it had (finally) approved Lilly’s new blood thinning drug, Effient (prasugrel).
Since last summer & fall, many across the industry have been wondering when Lilly’s day would come for this drug. After repeated delays & resetting of expectations, the product can now finally be commercialized, albeit with a ‘black box’ warning about potential side effects.
Sanofi Aventis & Bristol Myers Squibb market the world’s best selling blood thinner, Plavix. Once thought to be a serious competitor to Plavix and Lilly’s next blockbuster, the drug now has more tempered goals in terms of its sales potential.
While a victory for one of the industry’s biggest players, this approval for Lilly only puts a dent in a huge upcoming patent cliff with almost 75% of their existing products, in terms of sales, set to lose patent protection between now & 2016. While Lilly’s CEO has been adamant that they are not seeking a mega-merger the likes of Merck/Schering Plough or Pfizer/Wyeth, should we expect to see them active in bolstering that pipeline in the coming months?
P.S. What do we think of Mike Huckman’s new glasses? Hmmm….we’ll let you decide.
