IBD Reveals 2017 Biotech Innovator Awards Winners

On Oct. 16, 2017, Investor’s Business Daily (IBD), a financial news and research organization, revealed the winners of the 2017 IBD Biotech Innovator Awards. The winners for the first installment of the awards include Biogen, Celgene, Incyte, Kite Pharma, Loxo Oncology, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

Companies were nominated for the awards based on the significance of treatments that were either recently introduced to the market, or that are currently headlining their respective pipelines. Treatment focuses include diseases such as cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Nominees were selected by surveying equity analysts, exchange traded funds and mutual fund managers, and university professors to find top biotech companies based on their research achievements. Those surveyed were prompted to focus on companies with drugs likely to launch in the next several years and reach blockbuster, or near-blockbuster, sales of $1 billion or more a year. Only companies with US-traded shares were considered. Below are the awarded companies and their recognized accomplishments.

Biogen specializes in neuroscience using biomarkers, biological mechanisms, and other technologies to develop therapies for treating a range of diseases, including MS, ALS, PD, and AD. The company’s drug portfolio includes Tecfidera to treat MS, Spinraza, the first drug approved by FDA to treat spinal muscular atrophy, and aducanumab, which is currently under development for the treatment of AD.

Celgene, which specializes in blood cancer treatments, is being recognized for therapies including Revlimid for multiple myeloma, as well as a range of treatments for lupus, MS, and ulcerative colitis.

Incyte is being recognized for its cancer treatments, including the experimental immunotherapy drug Epacadostat, and the chemotherapy drug Jakafi.

Kite Pharma, acquired by Gilead Sciences in October 2017, has been awarded for its development of CAR-T therapy technology, which uses bioengineering to rehabilitate white blood cells to attack cancer cells. Another recognized drug, axicabtagene ciloleucel, or axi-cel, is intended to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and received FDA approval in October 2017.

Loxo Oncology specializes in therapies for genetically-defined cancers and is being recognized for larotrectinib, an experimental cancer drug that is anticipated to target mutant proteins in a range of cancers.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is being awarded for the development of Eylea, which treats a wet-eye, age-related macular degeneration condition. The company is also being recognized for its most recent drug approval, Dupixent, for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, which received FDA approval in March 2017. The drug might also be used to treat conditions such as asthma, nasal polyps, multiple allergies (including peanut allergies), esophageal inflammation, and other related conditions.

Additionally, the six companies have a combined market cap of nearly $900 billion and sales of more than $100 billion over the most recent 12 months, according to IBD.

Source: Investor’s Business Daily