AbbVie clinches the drug patent-cliff dismount

ImmunoGen

30/11/2023 17:09

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Robert Cyran
       NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A $10 bln
purchase of ImmunoGen is the pharma giant’s latest bid to
replace sales from maturing mega-drug Humira. While sometimes
the fear of losing patent protection on a star product is
justified, AbbVie shows it’s possible to go over the cliff and
live to tell the tale. 
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    CONTEXT NEWS 
    AbbVie said on Nov. 30 it had agreed to buy ImmunoGen for
$10.1 billion in cash. ImmunoGen develops antibody-drug
conjugates, which are drugs that deliver toxic substances
directly into targeted cancer cells. This potentially reduces
unwanted toxicity and allows more effective doses to be
delivered to tumors. ImmunoGen has one approved drug for the
treatment of ovarian cancer.

 (Editing by John Foley and Sharon Lam)
 ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
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robert.cyran@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
robert.cyran.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))