The acquisition won’t affect Anacor’s neglected diseases work because the research agreement, which lasts until April 2017, takes into account the possibility of a sale, said Gabriella Stern, a Gates Foundation spokeswoman.
“We look forward to working with the Gates Foundation further through Anacor’s agreement,” Joan Campion, a Pfizer spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. A representative for Anacor declined to comment.
Innovations Inaccessible
Drug companies ignore many diseases that are prevalent in developing nations because of the lack of financial incentives, said Peter Hotez, dean of Baylor College of Medicine’s National School of Tropical Medicine in Houston, and manufacturers often have to sell products at deep discounts.
“When they go back to their shareholders and say, ‘We want to invest in technologies we may have to give away,’ that’s a problem for the investors,” he said in a telephone interview. New approaches are needed to give developing countries and their people access to innovative treatments, he said.
“Our technical ability to make products has outpaced the financial instruments and social infrastructure needed to make these innovations accessible to the poor,” he said.
Risks Welcome
The proceeds from the Anacor investment will return to the foundation’s pool of money for future programs, Farnum said. While the stake proved to be a boon, it also shows the unpredictable nature of biotech -- it could have gone the other way if Kerydin had not been approved or Anacor had poor results from other projects.
Farnum says he’s willing to take such chances. The charity has committed about $1 billion to 47 investments, of which 18 are equity stakes or convertible debt. The foundation can back companies that traditional investors and venture capitalists won’t touch, because it’s not looking to make a return; its only motive is to do whatever it can to achieve its broader goals.
“We are going to have some great successes and frankly we’ll have a larger number of failures,” he said. “We have a very high appetite for risk, we think it’s a competitive advantage of the foundation.”