礼来阿兹海默症药物 测试失败

资料来源：http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-problem-with-lilly-is-the-problem-with-pharma-1479918700  

Eli Lilly announced its closely watched late-stage trial for solanezumab, an experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment, failed Wednesday morning. Lilly said in a statement the company won’t be pursuing regulatory approval for the drug and will take a $150 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings. In response, shares fell 11% in morning trading. Rivals with similar drugs in their research pipelines also sold off sharply.

That wasn’t even the full extent of bad news for the sector. Upstart biotech Juno Therapeutics announced the Food and Drug Administrationplaced its lead cancer treatment program on hold after two patients treated with its experimental drug recently died—the second regulatory halt since the summer for Juno. The stock plunged 30%.

Lilly and Juno are hardly the only companies who have suffered clinical disappointments this year. Wednesday’s double whammy should remind investors that the main problem for the sector has been a lack of new blockbuster drugs. Bristol-Myers Squibb,Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Biogen have all announced failures of highly anticipated clinical programs recently.

Clinical failures aren’t the only concern. Other drugs which successfully came to market, such as a heart-disease treatment from Novartis and new cholesterol drugs from Amgen,Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi, have experienced slower sales than investors anticipated, as payers pushed back against high prices.

The losing streak comes at a precarious moment for the sector. The drugs which pushed biotech stocks to record heights over the past several years are starting to show their age. Gilead Sciences’ blockbuster hepatitis C franchise is already in steep decline.

Meanwhile, cheaper biosimilar competition looms for many top selling drugs, such as anti-inflammatory treatments owned by AbbVie, Amgen and Johnson & Johnson.

Drug companies aren’t totally powerless to protect their bottom lines. They can raise prices on existing treatments or buy smaller companies to supplement their pipelines of new drugs, but each of these strategies has its limits. Price hikes only can work for so long as new competition emerges, and small companies with promising assets carry steep price tags.

Granted, other problems, such as price-gouging drama and regulatory uncertainty, have contributed to a bad year for the sector. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index and Nasdaq Biotechnology Index are down by 14% and 17% in the year to date, respectively.

But some meaningful breakthroughs in areas of unmet medical need would go a long way toward helping investors set those worries aside. Wednesday’s news means that they will have to keep waiting.