Some observers believe there was or is bad blood between the two companies and that there may have been an intentional communications failure regarding the potential successes of Enbrel. Well, IMNX and AHP really screwed up and it cost them big bucks. Enbrel lost a market share that it may not regain because competitors were hot on the trail. Amgen's Anakirna, which should be approved in a few months, is supposed to be as effective as Enbrel and will certainly usurp market share. And Abbot Labs developed a wonder drug that blocks TNF even more effectively, so the same patient obtains identical results with a much lower dose.
Abbot expects to file for approval early next year.
IMNX is actually a one-product company. They had the brass ring but didn't know what to do with it once they had it. This may be one of the reasons that the marketing of Enbrel was so poorly executed. I'm told that the IMNX-ers are working to reduce their dependence on Enbrel by conducting human trials of new drugs for osteoporosis, cancer and stroke. The only plus to owning IMNX is that AHP may decide to purchase the 59 percent it doesn't own and replace personnel in Seattle with its own people.