Icos
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates
{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }}
Icos Corporation (trademark ICOS) was an American biotechnology company and the largest biotechnology company in the U.S. state of Washington, before it was sold to Eli Lilly and Company in 2007. It was founded in 1989 by David Blech, Isaac Blech, Robert Nowinski, and George Rathmann, a pioneer in the industry and chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Amgen.<ref name="ervin" /> Icos focused on the development of drugs to treat inflammatory disorders. During its 17-year history, the company conducted clinical trials of twelve drugs, three of which reached the last phase of clinical trials. Icos also manufactured antibodies for other biotechnology companies.
Icos is best known for the development of tadalafil (Cialis), a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction. This drug was discovered by GlaxoSmithKline, developed by Icos, and manufactured and marketed in partnership with Eli Lilly. Boosted by a unique advertising campaign led by the Grey Worldwide Agency, sales from Cialis allowed Icos to become profitable in 2006. Cialis was the only drug developed by the company to be approved.<ref name="Icos sale" /> LeukArrest, a drug to treat shock, and Pafase, developed for sepsis, were both tested in phase III clinical trials, but testing was discontinued after unpromising results during the trials. Eli Lilly acquired Icos in January 2007, and most of Icos's workers were laid off soon after.<ref name="Tartakoff" /> CMC Biologics, a Danish contract manufacturer, bought the remnants of Icos and retained the remaining employees.<ref name="Tartakoff" />
HistoryEdit
Icos was founded in 1989 by George Rathmann, Robert Nowinski, and Christopher Henney, each of whom had previously started another biotechnology company: Rathmann had created Amgen; Nowinski had launched Genetic Systems, later sold to Bristol-Myers Squibb; and Henney co-founded Immunex, later sold to Amgen.<ref name="erickson">Template:Cite news</ref> Icos was formed with the goal of developing new drugs to treat the underlying causes of inflammatory diseases and halt the disease process in the early stages.<ref name="erickson" /> The name Icos comes from icosahedron, a 20-sided polyhedron, which is the shape of many viruses,<ref name="ervin">Template:Cite news</ref> and was chosen because the founders originally thought retroviruses might be involved in inflammation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The founders raised $33 million in July 1990 from many investors, including Bill Gates – who at the time was the largest shareholder, with 10% of the equity.<ref name="erickson" /> The company initially had temporary offices in downtown Seattle, but moved to Bothell in September 1990. Icos went public on June 6, 1991, raising $36 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> George Rathmann, seen as a guiding father to Icos, left the company in February 2000, and was replaced as CEO and chairman by Paul Clark, a former executive at Abbott Laboratories.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A former Icos manager named short-sighted leadership by Clark as a factor in the failure of the company to develop any other successful drugs apart from Cialis.<ref name="Icos sale">Template:Cite news</ref>
CialisEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}
Sold as Cialis and initially codenamed IC351,<ref name="cook"/> tadalafil is a drug prescribed for erectile dysfunction (ED) and approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It is a phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor, similar in function to sildenafil.<ref name="cook" /> In addition to ED and PAH, tadalafil has undergone clinical trials for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and for female sexual dysfunction.<ref name="pollack">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Tadalafil was initially formulated by Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) under a new drug development partnership between Glaxo and Icos that began in August 1991.<ref name="tadalafil">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The drug was originally researched as a treatment for cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and angina,<ref name="tadalafil" /> but focus quickly shifted to ED with the success of another PDE5 inhibitor, sildenafil (Viagra), which had been developed by Pfizer.<ref name="ervin" /> Icos began research on tadalafil in 1993, and clinical trials started two years later.<ref name="cook">Template:Cite news</ref> Glaxo let the partnership with Icos lapse in 1996, including the company's 50% share of profits from resulting drugs, because the drugs in development were not in Glaxo's core markets.<ref name="ervin" /> In 1998, Icos formed a 50/50 joint venture with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly (Lilly Icos LLC) to develop and commercialize tadalafil as Cialis.<ref name="pollack" /> The release of Cialis in the United States was delayed in April 2002 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that Icos perform more studies, improve labelling, and address manufacturing issues.<ref name="cook" /> Cialis was approved in Europe in November 2002 and in the United States a year later.<ref name="cook" /> The drug was approved for once-daily use for ED in Europe in June 2007 and in the United States in January 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="once-daily">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2006, Cialis generated $971 million in sales,<ref name="once-daily" /> leading Icos to post its first-ever quarterly profit in August.<ref name="Icos sale" /> In May 2009, tadalafil, to be sold as Adcirca by United Therapeutics, was approved in the United States for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension based on data from a pivotal study begun before the sale of Icos to Eli Lilly.<ref name="Adcirca">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Lawsuits with PfizerEdit
Pfizer and Lilly Icos have filed many lawsuits against each other in various countries over Cialis and Viagra. Pfizer was given a broad patent on PDE5 inhibitors in Britain in 1993.<ref name="BritishCourt">Template:Cite news</ref> Lilly Icos filed a complaint in a London court in September 1999, and the patent was overturned in November 2000 on the grounds that Pfizer's patent was based on information already in the public domain when the patent was issued.<ref name="BritishCourt" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the United States, Pfizer filed suit against Lilly Icos soon after receiving a broad US patent for PDE5 inhibitors in October 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United States Patent and Trademark Office ordered a reexamination of the patent, and, as in Britain, the examiner found that PDE5 inhibitors were not a new invention by Pfizer, voiding the patent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Use 90/007,478 for the application number.</ref> In Canada, Pfizer moved to block sales of Cialis five months after it was approved there, arguing that there could be consumer backlash against Pfizer should Cialis be pulled from the market months later as a result of an ongoing patent lawsuit.<ref name="bell">Template:Cite news</ref> A federal judge refused, saying he could not "imagine demonstrations in the street or storming of the barricades because one impotence medicine is made unavailable".<ref name="bell" />
Blindness warning on labelEdit
In May 2005, the FDA began investigating reports of sudden blindness in users of sildenafil (Viagra).<ref name="FDAtold">Template:Cite news</ref> The FDA said it had received reports of the condition, a permanent blindness in one eye known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, in 38 users of sildenafil and 5 users of tadalafil or vardenafil (Levitra).<ref name="FDAtold" /> Lilly Icos voluntarily amended the Cialis label to warn of the condition.<ref name="FDAtold" /> The FDA was criticized for its handling of the matter, as an FDA safety officer had commented on unusual reports of blindness over 13 months before a journal article was published on the issue.<ref name="FDAtold" /> United States Senator Chuck Grassley wrote a letter to the FDA detailing his criticism, saying that the FDA's Office of New Drugs (OND) had taken no action "despite OND's knowledge of the blindness risks since January 2004 and general agreement among FDA staff last spring that the label should be updated".<ref name="FDAtold" /> Grassley's letter also suggested that Pfizer resisted adding the blindness warning to Viagra's label.<ref name="FDAtold" /> In July 2005, the FDA said that Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis labels would all carry warnings on the risk of sudden blindness, though it was unclear whether the drugs were actually causing the blindness.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
MarketingEdit
Lilly Icos hired the Grey Worldwide Agency in New York, part of the Grey Global Group, to run the Cialis advertising campaign.<ref name="elliott">Template:Cite news</ref> Cialis advertisements were described as being gentler, warmer and with a more relaxed feel than those of its rivals, to reflect the longer duration of the drug.<ref name="elliott" /> (Tadalafil has a half-life of 17.5 hours, compared to 3.5 for sildenafil and 4.5 for vardenafil.) Iconic themes in Cialis advertisements include couples in bathtubs and the slogan "When the moment is right, will you be ready?"<ref name="elliott" /> Cialis advertisements were unique among those of ED drugs in that they went beyond describing ED and mentioning the drug's benefits.<ref name="mccarthy">Template:Cite news</ref> As a result, Cialis advertisements were also the first to describe side effects, as the FDA requires advertisements in support of a specific brand name to mention side effects; ads for Levitra and Viagra did not mention the brand name of the drug, therefore circumventing this FDA requirement.<ref name="wink wink">Template:Cite news</ref> One of the first advertisements for Cialis aired during the 2004 Super Bowl; Lilly Icos paid more than $4 million for the one-minute ad.<ref name="mccarthy" /> Just weeks before the game, the FDA required more possible side effects, including priapism, to be listed in the advertisement.<ref name="mccarthy" /> Although many parents objected to the ad being aired during the Super Bowl, Janet Jackson's halftime "wardrobe malfunction" overshadowed Cialis.<ref name="mccarthy" /> In January 2006, a physician was added to the advertisements to describe side effects on-screen, and Icos began running advertisements only where more than 90 percent of the audience was made up of adults, effectively ending Super Bowl advertisements.<ref name="wink wink"/> In 2004, Lilly Icos, Pfizer, and GlaxoSmithKline spent a combined $373.1 million to advertise Cialis, Viagra, and Levitra respectively.<ref name="mccarthy" />
Miscellaneous drugsEdit
Icos developed several drugs whose purpose was to disrupt the process of inflammation in the body.<ref name="ervin" /> The research program focused on the underlying causes of inflammation rather than specific disorders.<ref name="ervin" /> The compounds developed by Icos were tested in clinical trials in the areas of sepsis, multiple sclerosis, ischemic stroke, heart attack, pancreatitis, pulmonary arterial hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial cystitis, psoriasis, hemorrhagic shock, sexual dysfunction, benign prostatic hyperplasia, rheumatoid arthritis, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
LeukArrestEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}
Rovelizumab, trade-named LeukArrest and also known as Hu23F2G,<ref name="Mohr">Template:Cite book</ref> was developed to treat patients with hemorrhagic shock, which is caused by massive blood loss.<ref name="reed">Template:Cite news</ref> The drug is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits the recruitment of white blood cells to the site of inflammation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> During testing, few patients were given the drug, because LeukArrest had to be administered within four hours of the injury and informed consent was required;<ref name="gorlick">Template:Cite news</ref> patients were often unconscious, and relatives had to be reached to give consent.<ref name="gorlick" /> In June 1998, Icos and many medical centers asked the FDA to waive consent requirements in situations where the patient was at high risk of dying and relatives could not be reached.<ref name="lerner">Template:Cite news</ref> While some medical ethicists opposed waiving consent,<ref name="lerner" /> the FDA approved the proposal in August 1998 for five medical centers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Development of LeukArrest was halted in April 2000 when interim data from phase III clinical trials did not meet Icos's goals<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> of significantly reducing the chance of multiple organ failure and reducing the death rate from shock at 28 days.<ref name="reed" /> LeukArrest was also tested unsuccessfully for treatment of heart attack, multiple sclerosis, and stroke.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Pafase Template:AnchorEdit
Pafase, also known as rPAF-AH, was developed to treat severe sepsis.<ref name="pafase">Template:Cite news</ref> Pafase is the recombinant form of platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH, also known as lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2), an enzyme made naturally by macrophages and found in human blood.<ref name="ards">Template:Cite news</ref> PAF-AH inactivates platelet-activating factor, a phospholipid that plays a role in the inflammation seen in sepsis.<ref name="pafase" /><ref name=Schuster>Template:Cite journal</ref> The enzyme was discovered in the mid-1980s by graduate student Diana Stafforini and researchers Steve Prescott, Guy Zimmerman, and Tom McIntyre at the University of Utah.<ref name="ards" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The gene that codes for Pafase was discovered by Icos.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Early trials for sepsis showed that the drug reduced the death rate after 28 days and patients were less likely to develop severe respiratory problems.<ref name="pafase" /> Icos also tested Pafase for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).<ref name="ards" /> In phase II trials for ARDS, Pafase reduced the death rate after 28 days and reduced the chance that the lungs of the patient would fail.<ref name="ards" /> However, Icos halted development in December 2002 when interim data from phase III trials for sepsis showed that the drug did not help patients survive.<ref name="pafase" /> Scientists at Northwestern University later studied Pafase for necrotizing enterocolitis,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and there is ongoing research on the enzyme for atherosclerosis at the University of Utah.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Sitaxentan sodium and TBC3711Edit
In June 2000, Icos and Texas Biotechnology formed a 50/50 partnership to research endothelin receptor antagonists for use in the areas of pulmonary hypertension and chronic heart failure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two drugs, sitaxentan sodium (also spelled sitaxsentan) and TBC3711, were tested in clinical trials under the partnership.<ref name="texas">Template:Cite news</ref> Sitaxentan was designed to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension, and TBC3711 was designed to treat cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension.<ref name="web cloaking">Template:Cite news</ref> In April 2003, Icos sold its part of the 50/50 partnership, including any share of sitaxentan and TBC3711, to Texas Biotechnology for $4 million at closing and another $6 million within 18 months.<ref name="texas" /> Sitaxentan sodium was later approved in Europe, Canada, and Australia, and was marketed under the brand name Thelin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2010, Thelin was voluntarily withdrawn from the market worldwide due to concerns about irreversible liver damage.
Other drugs tested in clinical trialsEdit
Icos tested many other drugs that were not approved. They are:
- ICM3, an antibody blocking ICAM-3,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> designed to treat psoriasis.<ref name="ervin" />
- IC14, an antibody blocking CD14, designed to treat sepsis.<ref name="pafase" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- IC747 and IC776, two LFA-1 antagonists, designed to treat psoriasis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Starts trial">Template:Cite news</ref>
- Resiniferatoxin (RTX), a naturally occurring capsaicin analog, designed to treat interstitial cystitis.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Icos chief">Template:Cite news</ref>
- IC485, a PDE4 inhibitor, designed to treat emphysema, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.<ref name="Icos chief" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- IC83, a CHK-1 inhibitor,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> designed to enhance chemotherapy.<ref name="Starts trial" />
ManufacturingEdit
Icos manufactured many antibodies for various companies. In August 2001, the company partnered with Seattle Genetics to manufacture a component of their top experimental antibody drug SGN-15.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In November 2001, Icos signed a production agreement with GPC Biotech to manufacture a class of GPC's antibodies that targeted B-cell lymphomas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In January 2002, Icos signed an agreement with Eos Biotechnology,<ref name="eos">Template:Cite news</ref> under which Icos would produce Eos's most promising monoclonal antibody candidate, and Eos would have non-exclusive rights to Icos's CHEF1 enhanced mammalian protein production technology.<ref name="eos" /> Eos's antibody inhibited angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and was being researched as a treatment for solid tumors.<ref name="eos" /> In October 2003, Icos partnered with Protein Design Labs to manufacture their M200 antibody.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Acquisition by Eli LillyEdit
After Icos's experimental drugs failed in clinical trials, Eli Lilly was in a prime position to purchase the company. In October 2006, Eli Lilly announced that it had reached terms to acquire Icos for $2.1 billion, or $32 a share.<ref name="Icos sale"/> After receiving pressure from large institutional shareholders as well as proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) suggesting the deal should be rejected, Lilly increased its offer to $2.3 billion or $34 per share, a 6% increase.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Again, resistance was voiced by some large shareholders, and ISS advised shareholders against accepting the new offer, which it still deemed insufficient.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On January 25, 2007, at a special meeting, 77% of the shareholders voted in support of the acquisition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Eli Lilly closed the transaction to acquire Icos for $2.3 billion on January 29, 2007.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
As a result of the acquisition, Eli Lilly gained complete ownership of Cialis, and promptly shut down Icos operations and laid off Icos personnel, except for 127 employees working at the biologics facility.<ref name="Tartakoff" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Icos was the largest biotechnology company in the state of Washington at the time of the acquisition, and employed around 700 people.<ref name="Tartakoff" /><ref name="Icos gain">Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2007, CMC Biopharmaceuticals A/S, a Copenhagen-based provider of contract biomanufacturing services, bought the Bothell biologics facility and retained the existing 127 employees.<ref name="Tartakoff">Template:Cite news</ref>
ControversyEdit
In addition to the layoff of Icos employees, other aspects of the acquisition were equally controversial, such as assertions that Icos was being sold too cheaply and that conflicts of interest existed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The latter related to Icos senior executives, who – despite poor stock performance, in part from failed clinical development programs and an inability to successfully license drugs over the preceding years – were to be massively compensated upon a successful acquisition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Icos leaders" />
Senior executives at Icos received cash payments worth a combined $67.8 million for selling the company to Eli Lilly.<ref name="Icos leaders" /> Icos chairman, chief executive, and president Paul Clark received "a 'golden parachute' worth $23.2 million in severance pay, cashed-out stock options, restricted stock awards and other bonuses for retention and closing the deal."<ref name="Icos leaders" /> Nine senior Icos executives received similar packages, each worth more than $1 million.<ref name="Icos leaders">Template:Cite news</ref>