(AOF) – The EIB and MedinCell sign a new loan agreement of 40 million euros to support the development of innovative treatments. The new loan signed between the European Investment Bank and the pharmaceutical company is intended to support the development of its portfolio of innovative treatments. This is already composed of several long-acting injectable products at the preclinical and clinical stage. A first treatment using MedinCell’s technology, BEPO, is expected to hit the US market in the first half of 2023.
Thanks to this new EIB loan which succeeds a previous financing of 20 million euros in 2018, also supported by the Investment Plan for Europe, MedinCell will continue its mission which is to respond to the main challenges of health through innovative treatments.
MedinCell’s BEPO technology, developing long-acting injectable products, can be used to develop new treatments in many therapeutic areas such as schizophrenia, contraception, malaria, pain management, etc.
AOF – LEARN MORE
An inevitable race for new blockbusters
The patent for Merck’s star product, the cancer drug Keytruda, which accounts for more than 35% of its sales, expires in 2028. Despite the loss, since 2019, of the patents for its three star products (Avastin, Herceptine, Rituxan) Roche was able to renew its portfolio by bringing new molecules to market. However, the discovery and launch of new drugs are increasingly expensive. AstraZeneca spends about $6 billion a year on R&D in a pharmaceutical industry where the life of a patent only lasts ten to fifteen years. This leads laboratories to withdraw from certain activities. Thus J&J, Pfizer, GSK and, no doubt, Novartis soon prefer to refocus on specialty drugs and abandon any ancillary activity.