‘A $5 Billion Hole In The Market’
2 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // June 14th, 2007 // 7:53 am
The painkiller market, that is. Ever since Vioxx went away, there’s been nothing but confusion about whether to take Celebrex - despite those full-length feature ads - or other pills thanks to this or that warning. So venture capitalists are lining up behind a novel idea - a rejiggered from of naproxen. And Logical Therapeutics just raised $30 million to do just that.
“There is a $5 billion hole to fill in the market, and we hope to help†says Lutz Giebel, a managing partner at SV Life Sciences, the lead investor in the funding. Logical Therapeutics says it has altered the delivery method so that the drug remains inactive in the digestive system and is triggered only by powerful enzymes in the bloodstream, avoiding the gastrointestinal side effects.
“There aren’t any new compounds in development that will revolutionize the market,†Barath Shanker, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan tells the Red Herring. As investors shy away from new NSAIDS, he says companies are taking a second look at existing treatments. “The primary focus is on finding new delivery methods for drugs that have 30 or 40 years worth of safety data.â€
Imagine that. Decades of data - safety data - to mull over.
Speedmaster
It’s too bad that the FDA has taken a legitimate treatment away from people that could use it. The FDA has a skewed set of incentives imho.
Laurie
All Merck had to do to prevent this, was to put the risk out there. They chose not to. Yup, all drugs have risks, but if they are not relayed to those who swallow the pill that’s a BIG problem. I know many arthritis sufferers who would take that risk, BUT they would have their cardiac status monitored more closely during it’s use. That’s all the public wants..honesty.