News of and stemming from collaborations between biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies helped lift and steady shares during the week, as the market heads into a long weekend.


Partnership announcements and joint clinical trial results came from several areas ranging from small, development stage biotechnology companies and generic drug makers looking to expand foreign manufacturing capabilities. The American Stock Exchange biotechnology index _ which is comprised of 20 leading biotech firms _ gained 2.1 percent on the week. The index is down 1.2 percent since the start of the year.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Idec Inc. and South San Francisco, Calif.-based Genentech Inc., both sizable drug developers, successfully made it through a Phase II clinical trial of Rituxan for treating multiple sclerosis. The drug is approved to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and was developed by Biogen but is co-marketed in the United States with Genentech.

The drug was successful in the 104-patient study of its effeciency in treating the relapsing form of MS, which accounts for 65 percent of all MS cases. Neither company mentioned a projected date for the possible start of the next phase of studies. Biogen, which brought in revenue of $2.42 billion last year, is scheduled to be a presenter at a Sept. 6 health care conference in Boston, hosted by Thomas Weisel Partners.

Development partnerships are a key part of moving drug development forward, said Allen Eisenberg, executive vice president overseeing emerging companies and business development at the Washington-based Biotechnology Industry Organization. While it is difficult to find any specific trend in how or why collaborations form, he said, companies often enter partnerships for similar reasons depending on size.

"Often times, it's an attractive route for a smaller company to out-license its product to a company that has more experience in later stage clinical trials," he said.

And in turn, larger companies see it as a way to fill out their portfolios or development pipeline and gain a foothold in different segments of the field.

One example of that dynamic includes San Francisco-based Medimmune Inc., which said it is teaming with Infinity Pharmaceuticals to develop a new class of cancer drugs, aimed at helping unhealthy cells to naturally destroy themselves. Both companies will share costs in profits for any future products based on IPI-504, but Medimmune is making an upfront payment of $70 million to the Cambridge, Mass.-based company, which saw sales of $8.7 million in 2005. In contrast, Medimmune posted revenue of $1.24 billion last year. Infinity, a privately held company, is in the midst of merging with San Diego-based Discovery Partners International Inc.

Though the drug is in early stage development, the move looks like a wise one for Medimmune, according to Prudential Equity analyst Jason Zhang, noting the expert management team at Infinity.

Another big-small partnership includes the ongoing development of a hepatitis C drug between Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth and Exton, Pa.-based ViroPharma Inc. Wyeth posted about $18.76 billion in sales last year, eclipsing the $132.4 million gleaned by ViroPharma. Positive results from a Phase 1b clinical trial on that drug candidate were released this week, with the company preparing to move into the next stage of development. The market for hepatitis C treatments was valued at roughly $2.2 billion in 2005, according to Datamonitor, an investment research and news company.

Also during the week, Mylan Laboratories Inc. said it plans to by a majority stake in Indian drug ingredient company Matrix Laboratories Ltd. The move would give the Canonsburg, Pa.-based drug maker a foot in the global pharmaceutical market and broadened manufacturing capabilities. The deal calls for buying up to 71.5 percent stake for $736 million.