WHAT ARE THE INNOVATIONS FROM AB SCIENCE RESEARCH?
Research by AB Science regarding masitinib, its flagship molecule, is aimed at providing innovative therapeutic solutions in three main areas of medicine: oncology, inflammatory diseases, and neurological disorders.
AB Science hypothesized that mast cells play a key role in tumorigenesis (for example, pancreatic, prostate, colorectal); chronic inflammatory pathologies (for example, asthma); and neurological disorders (for example, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease). Based upon this AB Science applied for several patents and initiated an ambitious clinical development program in numerous indications.
Key concepts underpinning this innovation include:
– Masitinib is a potent inhibitor of mast cell activity, cells that are important for orchestrating and maintaining the inflammatory cascade.
– Masitinib stimulates an innate immune response and induces changes in the tumor micrœnvironment, the benefit of which is to extend survival.
– Masitinib is a highly selective inhibitor of tyrosine kinases important in the pathogenesis of certain cancers.
The results of phase II clinical trials in all these areas of research are encouraging. If successful, this development program will provide patients with a new and less constraining therapeutic option; namely, an effective, well-tolerated oral treatment, often in rare indications with high unmet medical need
WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY?
AB Science has the ambition to become an important, independent and integrated actor in the protein kinases inhibitor industry. Its development strategy relies on three main pillars:
– Specialization in the protein kinases inhibitor industry to maximize development efforts.
– Focus on pathologies with high unmet medical need where the profit/risk ratio is easiest to realize when the drug candidate is effective.
– Commercial presence in two strategic territories, the United States and Europe, representing nearly two-thirds of the income generated by a treatment.
WHY DŒS AB SCIENCE’S BUSINESS MODEL CREATE VALUE?
The development model of AB science aims to preserve the maximum potential for value creation and to become an important actor among pharmaceutical companies. The model relies on four key pillars:
1. Keep control of development until authorization
AB Science seeks to undertake Phase III clinical studies on its own without licensing to a big pharmaceutical group, thus preserving the exclusivity of its main product, masitinib.
2. Keep control of production
AB Science subcontracts and intends to continue subcontracting production in the future, without licensing to a big pharmaceutical group. The use of subcontracting reduces the financial needs linked to production, while conserving a large part of the income.
3. Keep control of marketing
AB Science intends to market its treatments using its own sales force or through independent distributors.
4. Focus investment on masitinib in several therapeutic uses
AB Science thus benefits from significant economies of scale, as opposed to developing a different molecule for each use.
This model, generally called “Fully Integrated Pharmaceutical Company (FIPCO)”, was adopted, by a large range of biotechnology companies such as Amgen, Genentech or Biogen and pharmaceutical companies such as Celgene to varying degrees.
