Millennium Pharmaceuticals
Encyclopedia
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The Company markets Velcade (bortezomib
Bortezomib
Bortezomib is the first therapeutic proteasome inhibitor to be tested in humans. It is approved in the U.S. for treating relapsed multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma...
) for injection, a cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
product, and has a growing clinical development pipeline of product candidates. Millennium research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, development and commercialization activities are focused in two therapeutic areas: oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
and inflammation
Inflammation
Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...
. By applying its knowledge of the human genome
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
, understanding of disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
mechanisms and industrialized drug discovery platform, Millennium is developing a line of new product candidates. It was one of the first companies to systematically search for genes linked to disease, but none of the drugs which it is marketing or has in clinical trial, with one partial exception, have been the results of that research. On May 14, 2008, Japanese company Takeda Pharmaceutical announced the completion of its acquisition of Millennium for US$25.00 per share in cash—a deal worth $8.8 billion. Takeda completed the acquisition through a tender offer and subsequent merger of a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda into Millennium. Millennium is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda.
History
Millennium was founded in 1993. In its early years, Millennium focused on building science and business teams.Beginning in 1994, Millennium created more than 20 strategic alliances with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. These alliances provided Millennium with close to $2 billion of committed funding that was used to develop and enhance its pipeline.
A merger with Leukosite in 1999 brought the company its first drug close to market, Campath (alemtuzumab) Injection, and additional investigational drugs in clinical trials. In 2000, a merger with Cambridge Discovery Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
gave Millennium a strong presence in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and added to the organization more than 100 scientists with expertise in chemistry. In a strategic business decision, Campath was later sold to the Millennium partner for the drug, ILEX Oncology, which in turn was acquired by Genzyme
Genzyme
Genzyme Corporation is a fully owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis. Before its acquisition, Genzyme was an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2010, Genzyme was the world’s third-largest biotechnology company, employing more than 11,000 people around the world...
.
In February 2002, there was a further merger with COR Therapeutics — among the largest such mergers in the history of the biotech industry at that time. In addition to creating a strong pipeline of novel therapeutics, the merger added cardiovascular research and drug development to the Company's other key therapeutic areas: oncology and inflammation. The merger also brought Integrilin (eptifibatide
Eptifibatide
Eptifibatide , is an antiplatelet drug of the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor class. Eptifibatide is a cyclic heptapeptide derived from a protein found in the venom of the southeastern pygmy rattlesnake...
) Injection, an intravenous anti-platelet
Platelet
Platelets, or thrombocytes , are small,irregularly shaped clear cell fragments , 2–3 µm in diameter, which are derived from fragmentation of precursor megakaryocytes. The average lifespan of a platelet is normally just 5 to 9 days...
drug for patients with severe cardiovascular diseases, into the Millennium fold. Millennium partnered with Schering-Plough
Schering-Plough
Schering-Plough Corporation was a United States-based pharmaceutical company. It was founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering as Schering AG in Germany. In 1971, the Schering Corporation merged with Plough to form Schering-Plough. On November 4, 2009 Merck & Co...
on the development and marketing of Integrilin until 2005 when Millennium licensed the exclusive U.S. commercialization and development rights of Integrilin to Schering-Plough.
In May 2003 Velcade was launched for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma , also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease , is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for the production of antibodies...
– a cancer of the blood. At the time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval for the treatment of multiple myeloma for paitients with at least two prior therapies for the disease. Velcade — the first FDA-approved proteasome
Proteasome
Proteasomes are very large protein complexes inside all eukaryotes and archaea, and in some bacteria. In eukaryotes, they are located in the nucleus and the cytoplasm. The main function of the proteasome is to degrade unneeded or damaged proteins by proteolysis, a chemical reaction that breaks...
inhibitor — reached the market in record time and represented the first treatment in more than a decade to be approved for patients with multiple myeloma.
In late December 2007, Millennium successfully submitted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to the FDA for Velcade for previously untreated multiple myeloma. The sNDA submitted to the FDA for this indication included data from the Phase III VISTA. study, a large, well-controlled international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
clinical trial, comparing a Velcade based regimen to a traditional standard of care. Priority review was granted by the FDA in January 2008. On June 20, 2008, the FDA approved VELCADE in combination for patients with previously untreated multiple myeloma. This means that Millennium can market Velcade to patients who have not had any prior therapies for multiple myeloma.
In May 2008, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited purchased Millennium for $8.8 billion. Millennium now operates as an independent subsidiary, serving as the global center of excellence in oncology under its new name: "Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company." This global footprint includes oncology research and marketing strategy and oversight. In addition to Cambridge, MA, oncology resources include facilities in San Diego, San Francisco, Tsukuba and Osaka with Millennium as the global hub for this critical and rapidly expanding therapeutic area.
Products
| Brand Name | Drug Name(s) | Indication | Date Approved (USA) | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Velcade | bortezomib | Velcade is indicated for the front-line treatment of multiple myeloma and for patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least 1 prior therapy. | 05-13-2003 | Ortho Biotech and Janssen-Cilag Janssen-Cilag Janssen-Cilag is a subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in the early 1950s by a merger between Janssen Pharmaceutica and Cilag.... , members of the Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500.... Family of Companies, are responsible for commercialization of VELCADE in Europe and the rest of the world. |
People
People is a plurality of human beings or other beings possessing enough qualities constituting personhood. It has two usages:* as the plural of person or a group of people People is a plurality of human beings or other beings possessing enough qualities constituting personhood. It has two usages:*...
. Millennium applies this approach broadly throughout its R&D program to develop novel treatments not just for cancer but also for a number of other important diseases.
Velcade is being co-developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals. and Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
Pharmaceutical Research & Development. Millennium is responsible for commercialization
Commercialization
Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing...
of Velcade in the U.S. and Janssen-Cilag is responsible for commercialization in Europe and the rest of the world. Janssen
Janssen
Janssen may refer to:People with the surname Janssen:*Janssen Other:* Janssen * Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Belgian company...
Pharmaceutical K.K. is responsible for commercialization in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. For a limited period of time, Millennium and Ortho Biotech. are co- promoting Velcade in the U.S. Approved in 85 countries, at least 85,000 patients have been treated with Velcade globally.