On July 22, 2014, Puma Biotech, a US biopharmaceutical company, announced the success of its phase III trial of neratinib, a cancer drug. The stock price rose three times that day.

  The drug candidate was bought by Puma Biotech in 2011 from the world's largest pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which was not favored by Pfizer at the time, and after three years, the results were beyond Pfizer's expectations. If the drug is listed on the future (basically a pinned thing), the vast majority of the benefits will be given to Puma Biotech. Previously, we heard the story of more large pharmaceutical companies buy good drug candidates from small biotechnology companies, but this time, it is in turn. So, who took this benefits from Pfizer?

  The name of this man is Alan Auerbach, the founder of Puma Biotech. Someone might say that Alan Auerbach is in good lucky. But in fact, this is the second time Alan Auerbach do such a thing, if he is a blind cat, then, he will not encounter dead mouse two times. The last time, Alan Auerbach founded a company called Cougar Biotech, then the drug candidate called abiraterone, was originally bought from a cancer research institutions, six years later, they got a good clinical phase III results, this company with only 65 Employees was acquisite Johnson & Johnson to $ 1 billion.

  Whether it is abiraterone or neratinib, the key clinical trial results are gotten by Alan Auerbach. On the one hand, he accurately determine the future potential of drug candidates, on the other hand, in the direction of clinical trial design and resource integration, Alan Auerbach has his very unique characters.

  In the past, we generally believe that small biotechnology companies can only do some early research. To the large-scale clinical trial stage, it is better to sell it to the large pharmaceutical companies. Only large pharmaceutical companies have financial strength, talent strength in the clinical trial stage to obtain the key results, of course, the vast majority of money has also been earned by large pharmaceutical companies, small biotechnology companies can only get a fraction. Alan Auerbach has subverted this model to prove that small biotech companies are able to complete critical clinical trials of heavy drugs, bringing unprecedented challenges to large pharmaceutical companies.

  Compared with the Internet, electric vehicles and other areas in rapid development, this subversive innovation in the field of bio-pharmaceuticals comes a little late, but the significance is very significant. First of all, this suggests that entrepreneurial biotech companies can also make a significant contribution to the biopharmaceutical industry chain, obtain the vast majority of benefits when the drug market. With this ability, entrepreneurial biotech companies are likely to grow into large pharmaceutical companies, not with the only fate to be acquired. Second, for large pharmaceutical companies, the reform is imminent. In the past, although the efficiency of large pharmaceutical companies is extremely low, the cost is high, but does not affect their survival and make money. Large pharmaceutical companies formed a very high scale barriers, competition is only from several large pharmaceutical companies. And now, this barrier was first broken, if the large pharmaceutical companies are not anxious, what waiting for them is the road like Motorola, Nokia. Third, the subversive innovation of small businesses first appeared in the field of biopharmaceuticals, it also means the birth of the icon, that is Alan Auerbach.

  Alan Auerbach received his master's degree from the University of Southern California in the early years and designed clinical trials in a diagnostic product company to live a bland life. Later, he entered the securities industry, specializing in the analysis of small biotechnology companies, and grew into a senior analyst for Wells Fargo. If this is the case, the world is just has one more rich and boring securities analyst. However, in 2002, Alan Auerbach decided to leave the securities industry to find and develop drugs. Then there is the story of Cougar Biotech and Puma Biotech.

  Cougar Biotech's drug abiraterone is a drug that treats cancer, which significantly prolongs the life of patients with advanced prostate cancer with little side effects and is sold to Johnson & Johnson after a high price, with sales approaching $1.7 billion in 2013. Neratinib from Puma Biotech is also for the treatment of cancer, it is used for early cancer, the current phase III clinical proved that it has a significant effect on early breast cancer, it brings a major breakthrough in the treatment of breast cancer.

  Alan Auerbach, when designing clinical trials at that diagnostic product company, would probably not have thought that he could bring such a big subversion to drug clinical trials. When he entered the securities industry, he may not expect, one day he can rely on the capital market to raise a lot of money to complete things only multinational drug companies dare to before.

  We hope Alan Auerbach's appearance is just a start, hope there will be more Alan Auerbach in the field of biopharmaceuticals. With enough subversive innovation, biotechnology can really create a new era of its own.

TAG: Chemical Reagents, Biomedicine