Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) has been one of the greatest growth stories in the ultra-rare disease space over the past decade, with their blockbuster C5 inhibitor, Soliris, growing sales to nearly $4 billion in 2018. Although the company still managed to grow top-line revenue by more than 19% in 2018 (without any price increases), market share in their lead indications of PNH and aHUS is becoming somewhat saturated, and they are looking for new growth avenues.
In an effort to continue executing on this goal, on January 31st, Alexion Pharmaceuticals entered into a partnership with Caelum Biosciences (a Fortress Biotech (FBIO) company) to co-develop their lead asset for the treatment of Light-Chain Amyloidosis. This is Alexion's first endeavor in treating amyloidosis, and I believe the partnership could be one of their most lucrative to date.