Sign in Subscribe
Pharmaceutical industry

GlaxoSmithKline's Arzerra Rival to Roche's Rituxan Faces Setback

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

GlaxoSmithKline's attempt to bring to market a rival to Roche's leading blood cancer drug, Rituxan, has suffered a significant setback. A clinical trial of Arzerra, developed by Genmab and backed by Glaxo, showed disappointing results, with only 10% of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma responding to the high dose of the drug. This is a far lower response rate than expected, and the results will likely impact Glaxo's ambition to develop a rival to Rituxan.

Key Takeaways:

  • The clinical trial of Arzerra showed a 10% response rate in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, far lower than expected.
  • The disappointing results mean Glaxo will not be required to make a milestone payment to Genmab, worth up to $2.1 billion ( £1.28 billion) at the time of the co-development agreement.
  • Analysts were broadly downbeat in their assessment, with Jefferies cutting their rating on Genmab shares from "buy" to "hold" and Richard Parkes at Piper Jaffray cutting his rating from "overweight" to "underweight".
  • Genmab shares tumbled 30% in Copenhagen after the group cut its guidance on likely revenue this year from Dkr1,2bn ( £138m) to Dkr750m.
  • Glaxo shares were unaffected by the setback, with analysts saying that the company was big enough to absorb the loss without significant impact on performance.

Statistics:

  • 10%: Response rate of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who responded to the high dose of Arzerra.
  • $2.1 billion ( £1.28 billion): Previous milestone payment to Genmab, worth up to, if the required milestones were met.
  • 30%: Decline in Genmab shares in Copenhagen.
  • Dkr1,2bn ( £138m): Original guidance on revenue for 2023 for Genmab.
  • Dkr750m: Revised guidance on revenue for 2023 for Genmab.
  • £11.71: Closing price of Glaxo shares in London.
  • 31/2: Increase in Glaxo shares in London.

Sources:

  • "Genmab cuts revenue outlook" by Bloomberg (undated, but mentioned as "yesterday" in the original article)
  • "Genmab Shares Slump 30% After Revenue Forecast Cut" by Reuters (undated, but mentioned as "yesterday" in the original article)
  • "GlaxoSmithKline's Arzerra Fails to Impress in Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Trial" by Bloomberg (undated)
  • "GlaxoSmithKline's Arzerra trial results 'disappointing'" by Telegraph (undated)

Read more