Why would Amgen be willing to share the profit from 5 high potential drugs? They wouldn't is the answer. These 5 are either long shots or limited potential market products that Amgen wants help with in the funding of their development. 50 million is just the entry fee, the real cost is in development funding. If even one of these 5 projects ever comes through it will be very lucky. This is just eyewash for Wall Street to think that there is still something to hope for in the pipeline.
The real question to answer is why doesn't MedImmune have 5 decent projects worth funding?
WOW, you people on here are negative.
If you read the article, you would have noted that the deal was for $50 million up-front, followed by AZ assuming 65% of the burden for development of the drugs for a set period of time. After that period has expired the split in development costs will be 50/50, followed by Amgen getting sole financial benefit from the drugs at the outset. Finally, in the end, the two companies will share the profits of the drugs.
Important to note also is the fact that Amgen was driven to make this deal because of MedImmune. That's right! Medimmune was actually an asset for AZ!!! These drugs are close, they just need to be pushed over the goalline, and based on the articles, it looks like a collaborative effort between MedImmune and Amgen will do that.
Where does the traditional AstraZeneca sales force come into play? Well these are innovative therapies that could potentially apply to millions of patients. A large salesforce is going to be needed to sell these drugs.
Look, I get it. It is the cool thing to be all doom and gloom these days at AZ. But if you read the article objectively, there is definitely reason for optimism.
And, finally, AZ has a shit-ton more cash where that came from. They can afford to make some aggressive plays and try and shift the trajectory of where we're headed.
Again, keep your fingers crossed and lets hope for the best with these drugs.
