Archive for the 'Deals and Mergers' Category
March 1st, 2011 by admin
Zymes, a New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company, has received a two-year $476,000 grant from the Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF), under the Therapeutics Development Initiative Fall 2010 Program, to evaluate the effectiveness of WS-CoQ10 in stopping the progressive loss of dopamine nerve cells in animal models of Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Continue reading ‘Zymes Receives Michael Fox Foundation Grant for PD Therapy Research’
February 14th, 2011 by admin
Every so often, someone sets up a dartboard of likely targets for Big Pharma buyouts. This time, the target-setter is Barron’s, and the focus is on companies with market values of $10 billion or less. Most of them have at least one marketed product: “It’s less dangerous playing smaller outfits with approved drugs than those with treatments still awaiting an okay from an increasingly demanding FDA,” the magazine points out.
Continue reading ‘Which Specialty Drugmakers Should Big Pharma Buy?’
January 31st, 2011 by admin
Merck Serono is teaming up with France’s Domain Therapeutics to take aim at a new target for Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Domain will contribute compounds developed from their chemical series in exchange for a €2 million upfront, research funding and up to €132 million ($175 million) in milestones for the first two products.
Continue reading ‘Domain Gets $178M Deal to Develop Parkinson’s Drugs’
January 18th, 2011 by admin
Several big biotech and pharma companies have been buzzing about their plans to launch biosimilar programs now that the FDA is laying out a regulatory pathway for the therapies. Reuters pinned down several CEOs at the JP Morgan event, and Amgen’s Kevin Sharer as well as Biogen Idec’s George Scangos talked up plans to fire up some follow-up programs of their own.
Continue reading ‘Big Biotech Joins Big Pharma in Hunt for Biosimilars’
January 14th, 2011 by admin
A unit of Footstar Corp., a holding company, has agreed to acquire CPEX Pharmaceuticals for $76.6 million in cash. The bid is worth $27.25 a share–more than twice what it was a year ago as back-to-back quarterly profits helped fuel investor interest. CPEX focuses on what it calls a “drug delivery platform technology.” Platform, of course, is a key word that implies it’s not just a one-shot deal, but a model for a whole family of drug-delivery applications. This likely made CPEX more attractive.
Continue reading ‘Footstar to acquire CPEX’s Drug-Delivery Technology’
January 10th, 2011 by admin
Big upfront fees are out. Milestones are in. Partnerships will stay hot. The IPO window will stay open, despite a lackluster record in 2010. And investor confidence will grow, helping public biotech companies outperform the general market.
Continue reading ‘Burrill Predicts Big Surge in Biotech Buyouts for 2011′
December 27th, 2010 by admin
The emerging-markets gold rush continues. Drugmakers continued their race into those fast-growing, tantalizing new markets. India, China, Brazil, Russia, Mexico–all so alluring in a world in which countries that could once be counted on for steady increases are no longer delivering.
Continue reading ‘Big Pharma Still Big on Emerging Markets’
October 14th, 2010 by admin
The Indian pharmaceutical industry has been shaken up lately, worried that multinational drugmakers will come in and completely take over their drug market. The fears aren’t unfounded; Big Pharma, after all, has been targeting the subcontinent as a key location for expansion, as sales-growth slows in the U.S. and Europe.
Continue reading ‘Pharma Protests Indian Licensing Proposal’
October 12th, 2010 by admin
Next year is shaping up to be slightly better for global pharma growth. But once again, it’s emerging markets leading the charge. According to IMS Health’s annual forecast, double-digit expansion in developing countries next year will make up for less-exciting growth in the U.S. and Europe.
Continue reading ‘China to Fuel Bigger Pharma Growth in 2011′
September 30th, 2010 by admin
Pharma layoffs may have taken a summer break, but they’re back now with a vengeance. On the heels of Roche’s restructuring announcement, Abbott Laboratories says it plans to cut 3,000 jobs as it integrates Belgium’s Solvay Pharmaceuticals, which it bought earlier this year. Fortunately for Abbott’s legacy operations–and unfortunately for those at Solvay–the planned cutbacks will hit hardest at that company’s operations in Europe.
Continue reading ‘Layoffs Return with Abbott’s 3,000 Job Cuts’
