Domino effect: Ipsen follows Biovail in dumping Santhera's fipamezole
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Ipsen has returned the rights to Santhera Pharmaceuticals' Phase II investigational treatment for levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease, forgoing the €13 million upfront payment it made when it signed the deal. But it was only a matter of time: just weeks after Ipsen acquired rights to fipamezole for territories outside the US and Japan back in September 2010, a significant factor in the strategic rationale for the deal evaporated with the discontinuation by Biovail of its own work on the product.