Marathon Pharmaceuticals
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Pharmaceuticals |
| Founder | Jeffrey S. Aronin |
| Headquarters | Northbrook, Illinois, USA |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jeffrey S. Aronin, Chairman and CEO |
| Products | Develops drugs for high-need, small patient populations, and late stage |
Marathon Pharmaceuticals LLC is a privately held biopharmaceuticals company focused on drugs for people with rare diseases.[1] The Northbrook, Illinois-based company[2] develops and manufactures therapeutics and brings them to market. It employs 100 people in four global locations.
Business model
Marathon produces medicines for high-need, small patient populations, including patients with rare diseases as outlined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orphan Drug Act. The Act defines rare diseases as impacting fewer than 200,000 patients in the U.S.[3]
Marathon develops late-stage drugs, earns regulatory approvals, and then manufactures and commercializes medicines with input from patient advocacy groups. Marathon’s regulatory efforts center on gaining FDA approval of New Drug Applications (NDA) or Biologic License Applications (BLA).[4]
The company provides assistance for eligible patients with financial hardship[5] and helps patients secure other assistance through the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD) and similar patient support groups.[6]
Marathon distributes its products in North America.
Treatment pipeline
Marathon develops medications[7] that target neurological, muscular, gastrointestinal and blood disorders, including deflazacort, a new medication to slow the progression of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) in patients.[8] In January 2015, Marathon was granted fast track status from FDA for deflazacort as a potential treatment for DMD. [9] Currently, there is no therapy against DMD,[10] and most patients usually die by age 25, although recently some people have lived into their 30s and 40s[11] with assistive devices and support.
Leadership
Jeffrey S. Aronin founded an entity named Paragon in 2010, which by 2014 had investments in three entities including Marathon.[12] Aronin is the chairman and CEO of Marathon.[13][14]
Prior to Marathon, Aronin was Founder, President and CEO of Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc., a mid-sized pharmaceutical company that specialized in therapeutics for rare diseases, launching 22 drugs in 87 countries. It was sold to Danish pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck A/S for $900 million USD in 2009.[15]
References
- ↑ "NORD". National Organization for Rare Disorders. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "About Marathon". Marathon Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Orphan Drug Act - Relevant Excerpts". U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Biologics License Applications (BLA) Process (CBER)". U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Patient Assistance Program". RxAssist. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ↑ "Patient Support Program". Marathon Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Pipeline". Marathon Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Sarepta (SRPT) Lower as Marathon Pharma Receives Orphan Drug Status for Deflazacort". StreetInsider.com. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ↑ http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-marathon-muscular-dystrophy-drug-0119-biz-20150119-story.html#page=1
- ↑ "Duchenne muscular dystrophy". Medline Plus. U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Overview". Muscular Dystrophy Association. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "How Paragon's Jeffrey Aronin built two companies out of niche drugs". Voices. Chicago Sun-Times. February 17, 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Jeffrey S. Aronin". Marathon Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Jeffrey S. Aronin". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ↑ "Lundbeck to acquire US-based Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on central nervous syst". Fierce Biotech. Retrieved 17 June 2014.