Strange Bedfellows OSI & Genentech

Biotech makes for strange bed fellows! Take for instance OSI pharmaceuticals and Genentech. On one hand Colin Goddard worked hard to cultivate the relationship with Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson so that the Big Biotech would invest in OSI drug Tarceva (and therefore give it the much needed cache), and on the other hand Genentech has caused the company to take a hefty $310M charge.

Of course Mr. Goddard is not giving up on Macugen (OSI's drug for Macular Degeneration).

We absolutely haven't given up on Macugen," chief executive Colin Goddard said. "We're not giving up on eye disease."

BUT

...Goddard said the company was cutting back on eye-care research "to make sure we can still deliver corporate profitability next year."

All this is due to the fact that Genentech launched its VEGF inhibitor Lucentis targeted towards macular degeneration, which has such a dramatic effect on macular degeneration that it is expected to wipe out Macugen's business.