Regeneron named biotech’s best

The state”™s largest biotechnology employer, Greenburgh-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., was named Biotechnology Company of the Year in the same week that its drug treatment for eye disease was approved for use in Europe.

The award from Scrip Intelligence, a biopharmaceutical industry publication, recognizes the biotech firm that has achieved the most in the 12 months between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012.  A panel of judges noted that Regeneron has been transformed over the past year by the U.S. approval and launch of its first major product, Eylea, and this year expects to become profitable for the first time.

“This has indeed been a transforming time for Regeneron,” Dr. Leonard S. Schleifer, company president and CEO, said in a prepared statement, “as we went from having one approved drug to three, advanced investigational drugs into Phase 3 trials, and created shareholder value that moved Regeneron into the top ranks of the biotechnology industry.”

The Scrip award shortly followed Regeneron”™s announcement that its injectable drug Eylea has been approved in the European Union for the treatment of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, or wet AMD.

Eylea was approved for the treatment of wet AMD in the U.S. in November 2011 and in Japan, Australia, Switzerland and other countries this year.  Bayer HealthCare, Regeneron”™s collaborator in the global development of Eylea, plans to launch Eylea in those countries this month in 2012 and into 2013.  In September, Eylea also was approved in the U.S. for the treatment of macular edema following central retinal vein occlusion.

Regeneron maintains exclusive rights to Eylea in the U.S.  Bayer HealthCare has licensed the exclusive marketing rights for foreign markets, where the companies will share equally the profits from sales of the eye drug, except for Japan, where Regeneron will receive a royalty on net sales.