After Bayer announced job cuts, its top drug fails and investor pushes for split

By PharmaCompass

2018-12-13

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There is more news from Bayer after last week’s news about its retrenchment plan. A few days after Bayer announced plans to cut its internal R&D group and retrench 900 R&D staffers, there was news that the company has tipped the market that vilaprisan, its crucial late-stage uterine fibroid drug, has run into serious trouble.

Vilaprisan had been billed as a top blockbuster prospect at Bayer. “For vilaprisan we have just some days ago put clinical development of our ongoing trials on hold,” Bayer’s R&D chief Joerg Moeller said.

“That is due to very recent safety findings in long-term toxicology studies … We have therefore decided as a precautionary measure to stop enrollment into our ongoing program and evaluate the data,” he said.

This setback for Bayer comes after FDA rejected Allergan’s uterine fibroid drug Esmya in August this year.

Meanwhile, there was also news that investment firm Elliott (run by billionaire Paul Singer) might push Bayer to split up its crop and pharma businesses.

Activist investor Elliott Management is reportedly pushing for a two-way split — to separate crop science from its pharma business. However, it is yet to meet the Bayer management on the matter.

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