A former business development colleague of mine used to refer to some prospects as having “champagne tastes with beer wallets.” His meaning was clear. It’s one thing to want champagne, but it’s another to actually be able to afford it. This is especially true when all you can afford is Coors Light.
I was reminded of this vivid analogy when I read the various reports on the Pfizer deal with Biocon here and here. Of note,
Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, will pay Biocon $200 million upfront and an additional $150 million for development and regulatory costs, the companies said in a statement yesterday.
$200 million upfront! Sorry, but that’s no ordinary generic. What this demonstrates is that entering and participating in the biogenerics space will be neither cheap nor easy. Further, as with many other generics, the first biogenerics will likely price below, but close to, their branded counterparts. We see this in the oral generics space, and we do not think biogenerics will be any different.
Lastly, we believe biogenerics will continue to be dominated by major multinational branded and generic pharma/biotech companies with the global resources to pay fees like this.