Now that we have seen the disappointing results for bapineuzumab, which failed to improve cognitive functioning and raised the risk of a potentially serious side effect, what will this mean for the drugmaker? More cost cutting, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Barbara Ryan.
Already plagued by a series of drug approvals that postponed needed revenue, Wyeth can be expected to "expand its restructuring initiatives and find additional cost savings," she writes in an investor note. Wyeth, you may recall, has already eliminated 4 percent of what had been a global workforce of appoximately 50,000 people, with plans to boost that to 6 percent by year’s end.
"Wyeth's growth outlook is below the group and market; and long term potential for significant upside from bapineuzumab in Alzheimer's is tenuous, given the Phase II results. Beyond this, the pipeline has been very disappointing, and generic losses through 2010 represent 35 percent to 40 percent of earnings per share." She calls the pipeline "unattractive" and new drug launches are "uninspiring."
And what of baineuzumab? As they say in our homeland - fughedaboudit. "Based on the Phase II results, we have reduced our 2011 and 2012 estimates for global bapineuzumab sales to $225 million and $475 million, from $450 million and $950 million, respectively."