Biotech finalizes cancer drug purchase

In a bid to once again become a biotech company with marketed products, Cell Therapeutics said Thursday it completed its purchase of U.S. rights to the cancer drug Zevalin for $10 million.

The therapy is now approved only for treating a common form of blood cancer called relapsed indolent non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The Seattle biotech will pay an additional $20 million to Biogen-Idec, the therapy's developer, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves it for certain other non-Hodgkins lymphoma applications. Cell Therapeutics will also pay sales royalties until at least December 2015, a statement said.

Zevalin, which in 2006 had U.S. sales of $16.4 million, uses antibodies to deliver radiation directly to cancer cells.

Despite promising data about its effectiveness, oncologists prescribe Zevalin to fewer than 1,000 U.S. patients annually because it must be administered in institutions able to deal with radiation, said Cell Therapeutics Chief Executive James Bianco.

Cell Therapeutics plans an educational and marketing blitz to persuade doctors to adopt the therapy. If it succeeds, Zevalin profits could pay for the development of the company's other products, Bianco said.

"If this product does 50 million or 60 million [dollars] a year — that could fund our entire operations," he said.

Cell Therapeutics has had no commercial products since it sold off Trisenox in 2005. The federal government accused Cell Therapeutics of promoting the drug for unapproved uses, a claim that the company settled earlier this year by paying $10.5 million.

The company now plans to concentrate on growing Zevalin's market share and getting its two leading drug candidates, Xyotax and Pixantrone, to market. Last August, Cell Therapeutics said that it had run up $1 billion in losses since its inception 16 years ago.

Ángel González: 206-515-5644 or agonzalez@seattletimes.com