Amit Munshi, CEO, Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA)
Amit Munshi has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) since May 2016 and has been a member of the board of directors since June 2016.
Previously, Mr. Munshi was President and Chief Executive Officer of Epirus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and Percivia LLC, a biotechnology company (sold to JNJ).
Prior to Epirus and Percivia, Mr. Munshi was a co-founder and served as Chief Business Officer of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., from 2005 to 2010 (sold $2.1B to AGN), and held multiple leadership positions at Amgen Inc. from 1997 to 2005, including General Manager, Nephrology Europe.
Amit Munshi received a B.S. in economics and a B.A. in history from the University of California, Riverside, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
Mr. Munshi has 30 years of global biopharmaceutical industry experience in executive management, business development, product development and portfolio management.
Mr. Munshi currently serves on the boards of Pulmatrix, Inc. (Nasdaq:PULM), Enterprise Therapeutics Ltd, and Galecto, Inc.
In this 3,089 word interview, exclusively with the Wall Street Transcript, Amit Munshi details the turnaround business development and strategy that has led to the acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) by Pfizer Inc. (PFE).
“…We came in 2016 to reset the company. At that point, the company was about a $300 million market cap company. We focused heavily on the pipeline of products that had been generated over the last decade or decade and a half of discovery research at Arena. So, a large part of our success is in part due to the discovery research engine that Arena has had for going on almost 20 years.
When we came in 2016, we reset the board of directors, the management team, the capital structure of the company. We brought in large-scale institutional capital, and really on the back of a couple of compounds that we thought were very interesting and could make a real difference in the lives of patients.
The first compound we’d read out in 2017 was a drug called ralinepag. Ralinepag was for treatment of a disease called PAH, or pulmonary arterial hypertension, a devastating and fatal disease. We demonstrated a very strong clinical signal in that clinical program.
We eventually chose to sell that compound and licensed the compound to United Therapeutics, which we did in 2019. And that was on the back of a second data readout on the drug called etrasimod, which is our cornerstone compound today.
Etrasimod is an S1P1 modulator with a very precise pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile. It’s based on almost two decades of discovery research work here at Arena. And etrasimod has demonstrated a strong clinical signal in both ulcerative colitis, where we’re currently in a Phase III program, and in atopic dermatitis, where we’re planning a Phase III program.
So again, it’s moving forward in two Phase III programs in ulcerative colitis and in the planning stage for a Phase III program in atopic dermatitis. We also have ongoing programs or Phase II/III programs for etrasimod.”
Amit Munshi detailed the development of several trials for Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA):
“…We’re active in Phase III clinical trials, or the last stage of clinical trials.
We have two Phase III programs in ulcerative colitis. The first program has completed enrollment. That’s what we call our UC 52 or 52-weeks trial. And then the second program, which was called the UC 12, or the 12-week program, is currently enrolling.
We expect to have data readouts from both of those studies in the first quarter of 2022. We’re very excited to see that data. And again, we’re in late-stage development with the program.
Etrasimod also is a compound that actually has clinical utility, meaning the drug can be used in multiple diseases, multiple autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. So etrasimod has not only demonstrated strong Phase II data in ulcerative colitis, but it’s demonstrated a strong Phase II data in a second indication called atopic dermatitis.
Atopic dermatitis, more commonly known eczema, can be a very severe disease. Patients with atopic derm and severe atopic derm actually have a reduced life expectancy. So while we think of it as just a skin condition, it actually has quite profound manifestations in terms of comorbidities or other diseases that occur alongside atopic derm as well as a change in mortality rates in some studies.
We’ve demonstrated strong data in Phase II there in that setting. And we’re planning a Phase III program there.
Additionally, we’re in Phase II or Phase II/III programs in Crohn’s, also part of the IBD spectrum, another GI condition. We’re also up and running in eosinophilic esophagitis, another gastrointestinal condition, and in alopecia areata, another dermatologic condition.
So etrasimod currently is up and running in three gastrointestinal conditions, between Phase II and Phase III, and two dermatologic conditions. Etrasimod in and of itself is what we’ll call a pipeline in a drug where it’s got very broad utility, and will continue to explore additional indications over time.”
Amit Munshi notes that access to capital is a key factor for success for Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA):
“I think the recognition that while there’s quite a few biotech companies that are both public and privately traded, many companies are really science experiments.
They’re binary risk, single-asset companies that don’t have a lot of data behind them. They are platform companies. Again, they feel much more like a science experiment.
I think we’re in a unique situation where we have the ability to actually build a sustainable, durable company over the long term.
We’ve got a balance sheet of over $1.1 billion of cash. We’ve got a very experienced management team. And we’ve got a breadth and scope of portfolio that’s really unprecedented for a company our size.
We’ve got an active research collaboration with a group called Beacon Discovery, which is Arena’s historical discovery research engine where we’re looking for up to 12 immunology and inflammation targets. That’s a long-term research pipeline for us.
And all of that combined really sets us up to build something very meaningful over the next three to five years.”
Get the complete detail on how Amit Munshi guided Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) to success by reading the entire 3,089 word interview, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript.
Arena Pharmaceuticals’ (ARNA) Weight-Loss Drug Approved by FDA; 3% Weight Loss Recorded
May 03, 2013
Insurance Stock Analyst Amit Kumar Gives All the Detail for His Picks and Pans
May 15, 2019
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Target Corporation (TGT) Focus More on Pet Arena by Serving Specific Demographic
July 15, 2013
National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV) Expanding Into Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessels Arena
January 09, 2014
Facebook Inc (FB) Dominates Mobile Advertising Arena
September 18, 2014
