Parkinson’s disease at forefront of Bayer bet on cell and gene therapies

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By Patricia Weiss

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Bayer’s pioneering cell and gene therapies for Parkinson’s disease are at the forefront of an exciting but risky test of CEO Bill Anderson’s development credentials as patent expiries on blockbuster drugs threaten the group’s long-term growth projects.

Rivals in cell and gene therapy technologies are already generating revenue from treating cancer or rare hereditary diseases, but Bayer is entering new territory through subsidiary BlueRock’s bemdaneprocel, an experimental Parkinson’s disease treatment designed to replace dopamine-producing brain cells killed by the disease.

BlueRock reached a milestone on Monday, becoming the first to take a cell therapy against Parkinson’s to the third phase of testing, but the path to regulatory approval is long and the outcome uncertain. Pharma division head Stefan Oelrich expects results in 2028 or 2029.

PIPELINE CHALLENGES FOR CEO

Former Roche executive Anderson, meanwhile, is coming under increasing scrutiny over Bayer’s pharmaceuticals pipeline after the revenue hit it has taken from the expiry of patents on its anticoagulant Xarelto and eye medicine Eylea.

That leaves cell and gene therapies accounting for about 20% of a pharma pipeline Anderson identified as one of the biggest challenges facing the German conglomerate when he took the helm in June 2023.

“Anderson’s background is in the pharmaceutical business. After more than two years, it’s about time he started to deliver in his strongest domain,” said Ingo Speich, at mutual funds company Deka Investment.

“Bayer urgently needs success in the pharmaceutical sector to overcome past disappointments and rebuild trust in the capital market.”

Markus Manns at Union Investment also emphasised the risk element.

“Bayer’s cell and gene therapies do not currently play a role in the valuation of the group due to the high development risk,” he said, citing the complexity of transplanting cells into the brain and the immune suppression patients will require.

The development line-up took a big hit in 2023, when a once-promising blood thinner flopped in a trial, though cancer drug Nubeqa and kidney disease medicine Kerendia are compensating for lost Xarelto sales.

SHARES DOWN 70% SINCE MONSANTO DEAL 

Bayer’s problems run deeper, however, with its shares down more than 70% since the 2018 takeover of Monsanto. 

U.S. litigation over disputed claims that its weedkiller glyphosate causes cancer has cost it billions of dollars, with billions more at stake as further settlements loom. The group’s heavy debt burden, meanwhile, has led it to consider a capital increase in the medium term.

Much rests on the cell and gene therapies, therefore. Despite bemdaneprocel being years from market launch, Bayer is working on a manufacturing network for cell and gene therapy products, including a $250 million facility in California.

“The manufacture of cell and gene therapy products is not just a science, it is a very special kind of expertise,” says Bayer’s Oelrich. “That’s why we use the term ‘the process is the product’ in cell and gene therapies.”    

Though there is no analyst consensus yet on future sales potential and Bayer has not issued estimates on sales or costs, the rewards could be considerable.

“We believe that our treatments can stop the progression of the disease and possibly reverse it,” said Christian Rommel, Bayer’s head of pharmaceutical research and development. 

Parkinson’s disease and its progressive brain damage affect more than 10 million people worldwide, with the number projected to more than double by 2050. Symptoms include loss of muscle control, tremors and dementia in some patients.

Christie Wong, neurology expert at market researcher GlobalData, said that treatment of the causes rather than the symptoms of the disease would be in high demand.

“The need for disease-modifying therapies is one of the greatest unmet needs in this area,” she said. 

WIDE FIELD OF RIVAL PROJECTS

The hunt for Parkinson’s treatments has suffered many setbacks over the years, but there has been something of a revival of late.

Market researchers at GlobalData told Reuters that Bayer’s BlueRock is the most advanced in a race of 17 projects testing cell therapies against Parkinson’s.

They also estimate that the overall Parkinson’s therapy market will reach $7 billion in the world’s seven largest markets by 2033, almost doubling from 2023, on new therapy launches and growing patient numbers. 

Bayer’s rivals in the field include Japan’s Sumitomo Pharma in partnership with Kyoto University Hospital, a collaboration between Lund University and Cambridge University as well as U.S. biotech company Aspen Neuroscience.

Among Bayer’s other cell and gene therapy projects, its AskBio operation is in separate Phase II testing of new gene therapies for Parkinson’s disease and heart failure.

The broader cell and gene therapy sector is expected to climb from $8.3 billion in 2024 to $71.7 billion in 2030, GlobalData says.

(Reporting by Patricia WeissWriting by Ludwig BurgerEditing by David Goodman)