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AstraZeneca on Tuesday confirmed it has closed down its neuroscience research group to direct resources toward more “high value” projects.
On an earnings call with investors, Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s head of biopharmaceuticals research and development, explained that the decision allows the U.K.-based pharmaceutical giant to devote more attention to its “core therapeutic areas.” Of the nearly $51 billion in product sales AstraZeneca recorded last year, the majority came from medicines for cancer, cardiovascular illnesses and respiratory diseases.
“We cannot be everywhere,” CEO Pascal Soriot said on the call. The central nervous system is “probably better managed by other companies that have a focus on that.”
Success in those main areas will be critical if AstraZeneca hopes to meet a goal it set last year of having $80 billion in annual revenue and 20 new drug launches by 2030. Its research pipeline lists more than 100 programs, two of which target arguably the most talked about condition in drug development right now, obesity.
The company has also talked up another experimental drug meant to curb unhealthy levels of fat in the blood. That drug, code-named AZD0780, just scored positive results in a mid-stage clinical trial.
“You've heard our excitement about things like weight management, about dyslipidemia, about our very important respiratory portfolio and our growth in immunology,” Barr said. “And so this prioritization helps us to reinvest in the programs that we think are important for AstraZeneca.”
Considered one of the most challenging segments of drug development, neuroscience has scared off much of big pharma over past decade. Pfizer, for instance, stopped nervous system drug discovery in early 2018. Amgen then left the space a year later.
Even Biogen, which is often viewed as a pioneer in brain drug research, has spent the last few years branching into other research fields deemed less risky.
Speaking broadly about acquisitions in the biopharma industry, Tom Davidson, global co-head of investment banking at Leerink Partners, recently told BioPharma Dive that larger companies are right now interested in fortifying positions within their core therapeutic areas.
“You want to be very relevant across modalities, across related call points, in order to have a robust franchise, in order to have a well-positioned business,” he said. “In a market like this, it's much easier to build into strength than it is to enter a new area.”
To that end, AstraZeneca has scrapped three programs aimed at Alzheimer’s disease, migraine, and pain associated with diabetes or osteoarthritis. The company does still have a Parkinson’s therapy in its pipeline, though that drug is lumped into rare disease research.