Pfizer Sets New Biotech M&A Record

Pfizer Inc. 's proposed acquisition of Rinat Neuroscience Corp. is the costliest private biotech purchase yet. [See Deal] According to Windhover's Strategic Intelligence Systems, Big Pharma paid $500 million in cash for the CNS play--nearly 60% more than the previous record, also held by Pfizer, when it paid $298 million cash for Idun just over a year ago. [See Deal] What's more extraordinary still is that the most valuable asset at Rinat—the one that pushed competitive bidding to the heights it reached—is preclinical. To over-simplify somewhat: Pfizer has paid half-a-billion dollars for a preclinical compound which, according to standard industry attrition rates, has about a 16% chance of even getting to an FDA approval filing.

Well, maybe it's not quite that risky: the compound in question is a humanized monoclonal antibody, RN1215, which targets the beta amyloid that is thought to accumulate in the brains...