Blackstone Life Sciences And Novartis Announce New Cardiovascular Drug Company
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Blackstone Life Sciences has teamed up with Novartis to launch a new biopharmaceutical company that will be focused on creating new drugs and therapies for high-risk cardiovascular patients.
Earlier this week, the life sciences groups unveiled Anthos Therapeutics Inc (Anthos), which will specifically work on developing drugs to treat blood clots.
It will be the first investment by the private equity firm’s life science business, and will cost Blackstone Life Sciences $250 million (£188 million) to launch the enterprise. While it will control the company, due to this huge investment, Novartis will provide an antibody that targets clotting factors and hold a minority share in the business.
Anthos will create medication that will get rid of blood clots in acute and chronic conditions. It is an improvement on current therapies as it also reduces the chances of incurring the typical side effect of internal bleeding, which is often experienced by patients using cardiovascular drugs.
Head of Blackstone Life Sciences Nicholas Glakatos said: “If we decrease the bleeding by 50 per cent, for example, that would be a tremendous achievement.”
He went on to say: “The genetics seem to suggest we have a good shot at it.”
If successful, Anthos’ new treatment could have a huge impact on patients suffering with heart problems.
According to Thrombosis UK, someone in the world dies from venous thromboembolism (VTE) every six seconds. This is despite it being the number one cause of preventable deaths in hospital, as it can affect anyone – whether they are young or old, a man or woman, or whatever their race or ethnicity is.
VTE-related illnesses lead to more fatalities than AIDS, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and car accidents all put together in Europe and the US, and as many as one in four people deaths are caused by blood clots in the end.
This is why advances in medical treatments, such as with the launch of Anthos, are so important, as they can help prevent the deaths of thousands of people a year.
Mr Galaktos, who is also chairman of Anthos, said: “Blackstone Life Sciences is focused on bringing important medicines and healthcare technologies to market, often working in partnership with major biopharmaceutical companies to provide them with access to capital, scientific expertise and hands-on operational leadership.”
Collaborating with Novartis on the project will help the life sciences group deliver the much-needed drug.
Anthos’ treatment is an anti-Factor XI / Xia monoclonal antibody called MAA868. This has the potential to prevent multiple thrombotic diseases by reducing blood clots “with minimal or no bleeding risk”, which “represents a promising next-generation anti-thrombotic investigational therapy” for patients around the world.
It could also save the NHS a significant amount of money, as Thrombosis UK estimates VTE-related cost totalled £197,993,327 in 2016/17 in England alone.
A spokesperson for the charity said: “Taking proactive steps to mandate VTE best practice locally could help to reduce this cost burden.”
This is mainly due to the fact that 55 per cent of VTE cases happen after patients are hospitalised. Blood clots acquired while in hospital result in 25,000 deaths a year that can be prevented, and ten per cent of all patients who die in care do so as a result of a VTE-related illness.
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