I had little to do on this last day of 2020 Christmas period so decided to have a dig around about Dr. Mike Yeadon. He worked for Pfizer for 17 years until they closed their R&D unit in Sandwich. He started a biotech company known as Ziarco. They focused on a drug for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (eczema). The anchor investor was BVF Partners with participation from Pfizer Venture Investments. This drug initially did well in phase 2 trials. Novartis bought it over in 2016 for an undisclosed sum but speculation put it in the order of $1 Billion. He then formed his own consultancy company.
Here is a forbes piece on this story:
And another link:
““Ziarco was founded to address the significant need that still exists for new, more effective ways to treat disorders underpinned by inflammatory and allergic pathobiology. Each program in development at Ziarco has the potential to be a first-in-class therapeutic and because they target critical points within inflammatory and allergic pathways, they offer treatment options for diverse and difficult to manage diseases,” said Dr. Mike Yeadon, CEO of Ziarco.”
In July 2020:
“Novartis cut an atopic dermatitis drug from the team—and it did it on the down low. Buried in its second-quarter financial report is a line revealing that the Swiss pharma is taking a $485 million impairment charge (PDF) for halting clinical development on an eczema program it picked up in its 2016 Ziarco buyout.”
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/novartis-dumps-ziarco-eczema-drug-taking-485m-hit