From: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@grnail.com>
To: Wayne Holman <MMIM >
Subject: Re: please respond
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:09:00 +0000
i agree„ just confirming my intuiton
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 10:07 AM, Wayne Holman <a wrote:
Hi Jeffrey,
I am not sure where to start but one way to look at this is to examine the way they answer some of these questions with
statements that cant possibly be true because the answers are not knowable by them or are so outlandish that they render
any other statements they make suspect. When I get people telling me things as fact that are actually assumptions or
forecasts it makes me very nervous.
Examples:
1) The drug is 18 months away from approval. They cant know that. Even if this were a simple generic drug the review
process alone averages 18 months. This is a protein biologic (much more complicated) and it has just started human trials.
2) "Human clinicals trials have just begun, but risk is a nonissue since this is a generic" This is a classic - the
old there is no risk. Drug development is as risky as it gets. I cant believe someone would actually say this
who has worked in drug development for 1 day.
3) "The current head of the FDA has proclaimed AB rating will likely be granted for this drug and that a bold
statement about US biologics will be made with this approval." So I am supposed to believe the "current head
of FDA" made this statement about a drug that hasnt been filed with the FDA and has produced no human data
yet. Does that make any sense to you? It is absurd.
I could go on and on but I am sure you get the point.
One other thing to always watch out for is an over reliance on the resume of the people they have as
researchers etc. They always tout some great people from big pharma as the reason this or that will be a big
success. There are literally tens of thousands of big pharma people running around and as you can tell from
looking at the stock charts of big pharma over the last decade they havent really knocked the cover off the ball
in their old jobs and every biotech venture has a few and most biotech ventures fail.
From: Jeffrey Epstein [mailto:jeevacationegmail.com
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2010 9:29 AM
To: Wayne Holman
Subject Fwd: please respond
response
------ Forwarded message
From: Matthew Harriton
Date: Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: please respond
To: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>
Cc: Anthony Georgiou cci
Jeffrey:
EFTA00777553
Please see responses to your questions below. Please let us know if there is a basis for further discussion.
This looks extremely high risk and without any real possibility of high reward even based on this very
limited information.
1) Insulin market is very competitive with many very well funded players looking at biosimilar and bio-
same insulin
a. There are 3 major players who control the insulin market on a branded basis, and only one real
competitor generically (but that competitor is not a true generic in the sense of substitutability). All
those involved have had issue with manufacturing cost particularly in less developed territories in
the world where pricing elasticity erodes margins. Our technology allows for favorable margins.
In less developed territories, the cost of the pen is not the issue since vials are often not afforded or
widely distributed where countries do not think it is economically feasible. We also aaddress the
issue of manufacturing facilities and plant costs, reducing the burden 10x. Thus we have patent
protection for our true generic process leading to the first economically feasible generic insulin
without supply constraints. Thus, we are not entering a crowded market since this is not a
commoditized product. Ultimately, we believe there will be 3 major brands and 2 major generics in
the market of which we will be best in class on both a branded and generic basis (based on purity of
drug). With better pricing, we should be a clear winner.
2) This is very early - recent IND approval from US FDA means they are not in human trials yet or just
started very recently though I suspect if they had actually started human trials they would jhave mentioned
it here.
a. The drug is 18 months away from approval and it goes through CDER and not CBER (not the
biologics division because of grandfather issues). The product is designed by the group that
developed the first biosynthetic insulin and the FDA regulator that approved it. The former head of
R&D of the big pharma at the time of approval is also involved. The current head of the FDA has
proclaimed AB rating will likely be granted for this drug and that a bold statement about US
biologics will be made with this approval. Human clinicals trials have just begun, but risk is a
nonissue since this is a generic and approval in less developed parts of the world have already lead
to preliminary discussions of approval in 6-12 months on a named patient basis and full-blown
commercial sale.
3) These guys dont seem to have US rights but seem to have rights in low value geographies - you arent
going to make much money selling their product in Iraq, Algeria and Libya etc.
a. Sorry if it was not clear from the materials. Elona holds global rights to this technology, we
(Tony, myself and our partner) have acquired the exclusive right to the technology in the territories
described. Additionally we have acquired 25% of Elona itself. According to the World Health
Organization, the territories we own represent approximately 58% of the world's population of
diabetics today and will represent approximately 63% in 2030. While standards of care and
availability of insulin differ in various regions/countries our model takes these factors into account.
The less developed parts of the world have real opportunity because affordable insulin has never
been a priority by the big 3 and they also have to contend with re-importation if sold in excess in
territories where there is significant discounts. The original product has increased 3x in price over
10 years well over the cost of inflation and at the high end of average pharma price increases.
Pharma companies have been trying to preserve margin and control supply to sustain profitability.
What most people miss is their stake in the oral markets that are much larger. It behooves them to
make available affordable insulin without supply constraints only to stave off the oral market. Thus
EFTA00777554
when properly introduced, we believe the less developed countries will have widespread adoption
of generic insulin. This was the impetus in Pfizer's recent purchase of Bioconn. The opportunity
for the broader set of insulin properties is vast. The Lantus product is key and growth rates are
notable. We can provide a truly affordable version and safely compete in the market. The key is to
understand that these less developed countries have not been presented by a suite of true generics.
Even Biocon has been mismanaged in many ways that we are aware of per direct contacts to the
CEO.
4) Even if they had global rights it is extremely difficult to get AB rated bio-same approval for proteins and it
would be extremely difficult to get comfortable with them achieving that down the road regardless of how
much due diligence you could do now.
a) AB rating only applies to US and would earmark the first true generic and force convert
$1 bn of product in the US alone. Outside of the US, there is no such rating but the drug would
be viewed as a biosame and not biosimilar. There is also an increasing trend in this direction as
new legislation is passed and reimbursement starts to not just favor but force less expensive
alternatives.
5) Insulin competition isnt about manufacturing cost of the active pharmaceutical ingredient but it is based
on the delivery device.
a. Insulin costs are based on API as well as delivery, but also in the grand scheme of margins
relative to the effective size of the organization. Pharma companies including now even
recently partnered Biocon control the market and they need billions in profitability to move the
needle. Pre-filled syringes, vials and pens are commodities that can be acquired at cost, but
reducing overall price of the drug to a huge discount is not only a function of cost of goods, but
also financial needs of the supplier. We can absorb thinner margins and still have significant
profitability while being able to scale up in size without any concern of supply constraints or
capital requirement to get facilities up and running for large-scale production. This technology
is well-covered through a patent portfolio and should not be underestimated for broader
implications.
6) No information is given on oral insulin but many have tried for decades and failed and I suspect the
lack of information means they are not in human trials and have not proven any concept. They actually
say here the low cost of their insulin is what opens up the possibility of oral insulin - that is totally
false. The lack of oral insulin products today is based on technical and scientific hurdles of
delivering it intact to the bloodstream through the GI tract - not cost.
a. This point is incorrect in the sense that bioavailability has not been overcome because no
one has reasonably considered to pack so much insulin in a few tablets that would effectively
require an insulin city to meet demand. We have the bioavailability data and 2 year toxicty.
The individual that will lead this effort spent 16 years of his life working on it and when he
saw the solution resolved he committed all delivery IP to the effort. This was spurred by a
conversation with a big pharma CEO who accepted the technical merits of the proposal and
went to his Board to get the approval for billions of dollars in commitment for an insulin city so
to speak. Now that it is no longer required, we will soon come to an appropriate collaboration.
On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 5:14 AM, Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com> wrote:
This looks extremely high risk and without any real possibility of high reward even based
on this very limited information.
1) Insulin market is very competitive with many very well funded players looking at biosimilar and
bio-same insulin
EFTA00777555
2) This is very early - recent IND approval from US FDA means they are not in human trials yet or
just started very recently though I suspect if they had actually started human trials they would
jhave mentioned it here.
3) These guys dont seem to have US rights but seem to have rights in low value geographies -
you anent going to make much money selling their product in Iraq, Algeria and Libya etc.
4) Even if they had global rights it is extremely difficult to get AB rated bio-same approval for
proteins and it would be extremely difficult to get comfortable with them achieving that down the
road regardless of how much due diligence you could do now.
5) Insulin competition isnt about manufacturing cost of the active pharmaceutical ingredient but it is
based on the delivery device.
6) No information is given on oral insulin but many have tried for decades and failed and I suspect
the lack of information means they are not in human trials and have not proven any concept. They
actually say here the low cost of their insulin is what opens up the possibility of oral insulin
- that is totally false. The lack of oral insulin products today is based on technical and
scientific hurdles of delivering it intact to the bloodstream through the GI tract - not cost.
***Mc ************************************** *****************
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Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this
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