Alexion Pharmaceuticals is the original developer and distributor of Soliris, a drug used in treating the rare disorders Hemolytic-uremic syndrome and Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria 

The company is also involved in research regarding the immune system and how it can be stopped from attacking healthy tissue (done by inhibiting terminal complements).

 

Soliris, the company's sole marketed drug, has been approved for use in the EU and Japan however its availability in other places like the USA and Canada is limited due to marketing restrictions and lack of ensured access (in Canada access to the drug is mostly through private clinics though groups like the Canadian Association of PNH Patients are lobbying to change that.

 

In 2011 50% of the increase in assets came from cash and cash equivalents, the value of which has since gone down since part of it was spent on acquiring Enobia. In the last quarter R&D spending was higher due to expansion of development programs while net sales of Soliris increased 45% to $227.6 million on account of new international patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

 

Founded in 1992 in New Haven, Connecticut (at a place called Science Park). In 2000 it paid USD 41 million in Alexion stock for Proliferon Inc., a San Diego, California based development-stage biopharmaceutical firm that has since been renamed Alexion Antibody Technologies Inc. Alexion CEO at the time (Leonard Bell) cited Proliferon's ability to produce an 'unlimited amount of antibodies' as the reason for the acquisition (also referred to as a merger). At the time Proliferon's annual revenue was about $2.5 million and its assets were valued at $2.1 million.

 

Also that year Alexion moved its headquarters from New Haven to Cheshire, Connecticut.

 

On April 4, 2011 Alexion became a member of the Nasdaq-100, a group composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks traded on the Nasdaq; with a market value of USD 8.5 billion it replaced Genzyme Corporation. 

 

On December 29, 2011 Alexion acquired Montreal based Enobia Pharma Corp for $610 million and another $470 million to be paid later on contingent on company sales and regulatory goals. The $610 million includes $300 million in bank debt. Enobia is the developer of asfotase alpha, a drug used to treat the genetic disorder hypophosphatasia.

 

Alexion donates Soliris to German E coli patients

In Germany, the Shiga toxin producing hemolytic-uremic syndrome, caused by the E coli infection EHEC which leads to blood infection induced kidney failure, reached epidemic proportions in 2010. Initially, Soliris was considered a treatment option due to its effectiveness in treating atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, an illness similar to the specific type of E coli afflicting people in Germany. Alexion's German subsidiary has been providing those patients with Soliris free of charge. 

 

Soliris receives FDA approval

On September 23, 2011 it was announced that the US Food and Drug Administration officially approved the use of Soliris as a treatment for atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome in both adults and children. More than half of people with aHUS end up dying of it as a result of damage to vital organs/organ failure (usually involving the kidneys) caused by uncontrolled complement activation. The FDA's decision to grant approval received a positive response from the medical community with the director of Pediatric Nephrology at Atlanta's Children's hospital calling it "the most important advance that has been made for patients and families with this disease".