US$8.4 bn was a great deal for Baker Brothers and other Synageva shareholders but ultimately came to “haunt” Alexion.
Synageva’s lead drug, Kanuma, was approved in both the EU and USA shortly after the acquisition and Alexion quickly brought the drug to market.
Alexion had expected Kanuma to have peak sales of US$1-1.5 m. The disease it was targeting had a prevalence of just 1 per 160,000 people, but the drug was priced at US$900,000 - US$4.9 m per annum.
Unfortunately for Alexion, Kanuma sales in the first full year were just US$29 m and had risen to just ~US$120 annual sales five years later.
Adding insult to injury, Synageva’s other drug never made it to market. Development was ceased two years after acquisition, by which time two successive Alexion CEO’s had been shown the door.
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