Pharma Marketletter articles from March 2003

Pharma Marketletter archives from March 2003

Biovail gets US OK for Teveten HCT.
March 3, 2003... Canada's Biovail Corp has been granted US approval to market Teveten HCT (eprosartan mesylate and hydrochlorothiazide) for the treatment of patients with hypertension. The company said it would start shipping the combined angiotensin II...

Solvay expands portfolio with Hormos deal.
March 3, 2003... Belgium's Solvay Pharmaceuticals and Hormos Medical Corp of Finland have signed a research collaboration and license agreement in the area of women's health. The deal is a collaborative discovery program, initially until January 2006 with...

Perlegen to use genetic research for Unilever products.
March 3, 2003... Perlegen Sciences, a privately-held US genetics company, has signed a multi-year research collaboration with Unilever under which the two companies will utilize Perlegen's proprietary high-resolution whole-genome association technologies to...

BioMarin prices $75M offering.
March 3, 2003... California, USA-based BioMarin Pharmaceutical has priced its previously-announced public offering of common stock. In the offering, BioMarin is selling 7.5 million shares at a price to the public of $10.00 per share, or a total offering price...

Biopure sees losses increase.
March 3, 2003... Biopure Corp has reported a net loss of $11.1 million, or $0.36 per common share for its first 2003 fiscal quarter ended January 31, compared with a net loss of $9.7 million, or $0.38 per common share, for the corresponding period in 2002. ...

180-day additional Nasdaq grace period for Peregrine.
March 3, 2003... Peregrine Pharmaceuticals says it has received a letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market notifying the company that it has been afforded an additional 180-day grace period to regain compliance with the $1.00 minimum closing bid price requirement...

NPS Pharma and Enzon to merge in $1.6B deal; aim to be "a new biotech leader".
March 3, 2003... US firms NPS Pharmaceutical and Enzon Pharmaceuticals have signed a definitive merger agreement through a stock-for-stock transaction valued at around $1.60 billion. Under the terms of the deal, each Enzon shareholder will receive 0.7264...

Indian pharma warned over new products.
March 3, 2003... India's pharmaceutical industry turnover grew 8.3% to over 180 billion rupees ($3.77 billion) in 2002 and, of this increase, 8.2% was represented by products launched onto the market within the last two years, according to a new report from AC...

Canadian province freezes seniors' Rx fees.
March 3, 2003... The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has announced a freeze on the Pharmacare premiums paid by seniors and put a cap on the total amount which they pay for individual prescriptions. Nova Scotia Health Minister Jane Purves says that the...

Bipolar drug market growth to 2011.
March 3, 2003... Within the global market for bipolar disorder drug treatments, sales of antipsychotics and anticonvulsants will reach $2.6 billion in 2007, to account for nearly 90% of the total market by that date, according to a new study from Decision...

Indian President pledges affordable drugs.
March 3, 2003... The President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, has told parliament that the government is committed to ensuring the affordability of basic pharmaceutical products "in the era of liberalization." Moreover, the government would be taking...

Vietnam raises pharma export target 15%.
March 3, 2003... The Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry has set an export target of $10.3 million for this year, which is an increase of 15% over 2002's target figure, according to the Vietnamese News Agency. The industry also says that it will commence...

Harsh blow for Biogen as psoriasis drug Amevive stumbles in Europe.
March 3, 2003... Following a negative review from the European Union's Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products, Biogen has withdrawn its application for approval of psoriasis drug Amevive (alefacept). The CPMP has asked for a head-to-head trial of Amevive...

Cubist boosted by Cidecin fast-tracking.
March 3, 2003... Cubist Pharmaceuticals of the USA reports that the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted its New Drug Application for Cidecin (daptomycin for injection), the firm's antibiotic drug candidate, and also granted priority-review status to...

GSK Bio develops African meningitis vaccine.
March 3, 2003... Rixensart, Belgium-based GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals has developed a new trivalent meningitis vaccine, ACW135, which offers protection against the typical meningitis strains seen in Africa (A and C). In addition, the vaccine includes a new...

Farmindustria president Leoni explains Italy's pharma woes in interview.
March 3, 2003... These are very trying times for the Italian research-based pharmaceutical industry. A new decree which came into force last September has effected an upheaval of the pricing and reimbursement system so severe that the European Federation of...

US Rx drug sales grew 12% in 2002: IMS.
March 3, 2003... US sales of prescription drugs grew 12% in 2002 to total $192.2 billion, compared with 17% growth in 2001, when sales reached $172 billion, says IMS Health. US sales will grow 10%-11% this year and next and then put on a spurt to produce...

Michigan and Vermont launch first US Medicaid Rx pooling program.
March 3, 2003... Two US state governors have announced the nation's first multi-state purchasing arrangement for pharmaceuticals paid for under their Medicaid programs. The joint venture, between Michigan and Vermont, will utilize the existing structure of the...

Tennessee mulls single TennCare Rx list.
March 3, 2003... The US state of Tennessee's TennCare Medicaid program, which covers 1.4 million enrollees, is now $369 million in deficit, 40% of which is due to prescription drug costs. The nine managed care organizations running the plan each have their own...

Schwarz forecasts two-fold earnings growth in 2003.
March 3, 2003... Schwarz Pharma AG has reported a strong increase in sales for 2002, fuelled by the introduction of its generic version of AstraZeneca's blockbuster anti-ulcerant Prilosec/Losec (omeprazole), and the German firm is now forecasting a stellar...

Micro Therapeutics raises $21.5M.
March 3, 2003... USA-based Micro Therapeutics says that it has completed the second and final stage of a private placement of its common stock, in a round of financing which saw the company raise some $21.5 million. Chief executive Thomas Wilder said the...

Fuzeon price pushes margin for HIV drugs.
March 3, 2003... Roche has set the price of its investigational HIV drug Fuzeon (enfuvirtide; T-20) at 52 euros ($55.83) a day to European Union countries that elect to undertake a pre-licence special-access program before approval is granted. Fuzeon is...

Tariquidar trial suspension hits Xenova shares hard; overreaction, says UK firm.
March 3, 2003... UK biotechnology company Xenova saw its shares hit a five-year low on February 21, after reporting that patient enrollment into its Phase III trials of tariquidar had been suspended to allow a probe into the drug's safety. The three-month...

Amylin's losses widen on spiralling R&D costs.
March 3, 2003... The USA's Amylin Pharmaceuticals has reported a sharp increase in net loss for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2002, on the back of significantly-higher R&D expenses relating to the advancement of its expensive late-stage...

Incyte in $43M deal to buy Maxia Pharma.
March 3, 2003... California, USA-based Incyte Genomics has completed the acquisition of privately-held drug discovery firm Maxia Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth around $43 million. Under the terms of the transaction, Maxia will receive $28.3 million in cash...

Cephalon swings to profit in 4th quarter.
March 3, 2003... USA-based Cephalon moved into profit for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2002, as the company benefited from a significant one-time gain of $116.7 million relating to its deferred tax valuation allowance, as well as other...

Generic drug sales take off in Brazil.
March 3, 2003... Sales of generic drugs in Brazil increased 45.3% to reach $205.7 million during the 12 months to September 2002 compared with the like, year-earlier period, and accounted for 5% of the total domestic pharmaceutical market, up from 3.2% in the...

"Myth" of branded Rx costs: Canadian Minister.
March 3, 2003... There is "a lot of myth" surrounding the costs of brand-name drugs, whose year-on-year cost increases are currently only 3%-4%, according to the Canadian federal Health Minister Anne McLellan. Stripping brand-name drug manufacturers of...

Jordan's foreign drug trade in 2002.
March 3, 2003... Jordan imported pharmaceuticals worth 107 million dinars ($150.8 million) in 2002, compared to 97 million dinars in 2001, while it exported drugs worth 142 million dinars last year compared with 130 million dinars during the previous year, the...

New Zealand anti-DTC study "biased".
March 3, 2003... A study by researchers at the Christchurch School of Medicine in New Zealand which concluded that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs should no longer be permitted, findings which were reported to Health Minister Annette King,...

Zanidip drives sales up 13.7% at Recordati.
March 3, 2003... Italy's Recordati SpA has reported turnover of 493 million euros ($529.3 million) for 2002, up 13.7% on the previous year. The growth was attributed entirely to the firm's pharmaceutical segment and was driven by the launch of new products,...

IsoTis to divest Chienna to OctoPlus.
March 3, 2003... IsoTis NV, formed last year through the merger of the like-named Dutch group and Swiss firm Modex SA (Marketletter September 30, 2002), has signed a letter of intent to sell its 92.5% stake in Chienna BV, a drug delivery and development...

DSM life sciences turnover down 3%.
March 3, 2003... Netherlands-based DSM has reported a 3% drop in its life sciences product sales, at 2.24 billion euros ($2.40 billion) for 2002, with operating profits up a modest 0.9% at 232 million euros. DSM Pharmaceutical Products felt the impact of...

Biora 2002 sales rise 17%, 4th qtr -8%.
March 3, 2003... Biora, the Swedish biotechnology-based supplier of products to dentists, has reported net sales of 129.7 million Swedish kronor ($15.3 million) for 2002, a rise of 17% on 2001, with growth particularly strong in the USA, Germany and Japan. For...

June 1, 2004 intro plan for EU health card.
March 3, 2003... The European Commission has proposed June 1, 2004, as the launch date of the common European Union health insurance card. The single, personalized card will replace all current paper forms needed for necessary health treatment during a...

Russian Rx output up; fake drugs in 2002.
March 3, 2003... Russian drug production grew 6.4% in January over January 2002, against an annual rise in overall industrial output of 4.9%, the State Statistics Committee has reported. However, Ministry of Public Health inspectors reported a 140% rise...

Altana chairman warns over German reforms.
March 3, 2003... The German government's health service reform program, and especially Health Minister Ulla Schmidt's plan to set fixed prices for patent-protected drugs, is bad news for the pharmaceutical industry and would have serious consequences for drug...

Corixa revenues slump but loss declines.
March 3, 2003... US firm Corixa Corp has reported total revenues of $9.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2002, compared with $14.9 million for the like quarter of 2001. Net loss applicable to common stockholders for the fourth quarter was $19.7 million,...

Dr Reddy's and Leiner enter 15-year OTC drug deal.
March 3, 2003... India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories and US firm Leiner Health Products have announced the completion of a 15-year exclusive product development and marketing agreement for the former's over-the-counter drug products. Key elements of the agreement...

Fujisawa details voluntary retirement program.
March 3, 2003... Japan's Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals has said that the number of employees who decided to retire under the company's voluntary retirement program has turned out to be 190. The firm says this will not impact on the already-announced financial...

Lilly, 3M stop resiquimod trial in herpes.
March 3, 2003... Eli Lilly and 3M Pharmaceuticals have suspended their clinical program for resiquimod, an investigational compound for the treatment of genital herpes, after preliminary data from recently-completed Phase III trials suggested the dosing of the...

VaxGen HIV vaccine stumbles at trial hurdle, but may still have legs.
March 3, 2003... Eagerly-anticipated results from a Phase III trial of VaxGen's HIV vaccine AIDSVAX B/B (rgp120) have proved a disappointment, but a glimmer of hope still remains that the product could make a significant contribution to health. The...

Biogen's earnings lower following court ruling.
March 3, 2003... USA-based biotechnology firm Biogen has reported revised earnings figures for 2002 in the wake of a US Court of Appeals decision which ordered the firm to pay Schering AG some $55 million in a final cash settlement relating to patents covering...

Provalis awarded L1 million grant from Wales.
March 3, 2003... UK-based diagnostics and pharmaceuticals firm Provalis has announced the receipt of a grant from the Welsh Assembly worth some L950,000 ($1.5 million). The new funds will be absorbed by Provalis' medical diagnostics division, which...

Estonia provides local firm with $1 million anticancer grant.
March 3, 2003... The Business Promotion Foundation of Estonia has allocated around $1 million to local drugmaker Celecure AS in a bid to boost the firm's work on a new-generation cancer treatment code-named CC0101. Celecure claims that the product may be able...

Merck & Co hits impasse in Richter patent dispute.
March 3, 2003... USA-based Merck & Co's patent violation claim against Hungarian drugmaker Richter Gedeon has floundered after a Hungarian Supreme Court decision to dismiss the claim without leave for appeal. Richter said that the court had ruled that it...

NicOx requests enquiry following share collapse.
March 3, 2003... French start-up company NicOx has requested an investigation by the nation's securities commission into transactions of its stock. The company is concerned about the weeks leading up to a press statement detailing the failure of a molecule,...

Vietnamese firm to produce western drugs under license.
March 3, 2003... The Pharmacy and Medical Equipment Company in the Binh Dinh province of Vietnam says that it will produce 10 types of drugs under license from leading European and USA-headquartered drug manufacturers, reports the Vietnamese News Agency. A...

US FDA advances cGMP improvement plan.
March 3, 2003... The US Food and Drug Administration says it has accomplished the initial objectives which it set last year when it announced its two-year initiative, Pharmaceutical Current Good Manufacturing Practices for the 21st Century: A Risk-Based...

US state pensions to boost HIV/AIDS R&D?
March 3, 2003... The Senate of the US state of California is considering a proposal to encourage the state's public pension and retirement systems to use their influence as institutional investors to get developers of HIV/AIDS drugs to ensure the products are...

US states' Tums Down boycott of GSK.
March 3, 2003... Seniors in at least 12 US states are boycotting GlaxoSmithKline's over-the-counter products in protest at it stopping prescription drugs supplies to Canadian pharmacies and wholesalers which export them (Marketletter February 24). The...

US FDA plans early-warning Rx system.
March 3, 2003... The New York-Presbyterian Hospital is to be the first participant in an experimental scheme announced by the US Food and Drug Administration which aims to speed up the discovery of side effects and preventable errors involving prescription...

South Dakota plans seniors' Rx program.
March 3, 2003... In the US state of South Dakota, the Senate Health Committee has unanimously backed State Governor Mike Rounds' plan to obtain discounts averaging 20% on prescription drug prices for people aged 65 and over and some disabled people. Under Bill...

Bush signs 21% more for US FDA in FY2003.
March 3, 2003... The fiscal year 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Bill which has now been signed by US President George W Bush provides the Food and Drug Administration with a program-level budget of $1.64 billion, which is a 21% rise on the agency's original FY...

Florida to cut seniors' Rx costs up to 50%.
March 3, 2003... Bipartisan proposals to provide seniors in the US state of Florida with prescription drug discounts of up to 50% have received the backing of a House of Representatives health budget panel and will now go to the House Appropriations Committee...

Diatos raises 6.6 million euros in private financing.
March 3, 2003... French biopharmaceutical firm Diatos says that it has successfully concluded a 6.5 million euro ($7.0 million) round of private financing, led by Credit Lyonnais Private Equity and supported by existing investors. The company said the...

Incyte reins in losses, restructuring costs bite in 2002.
March 3, 2003... The USA's Incyte Genomics reported falling revenues and substantial restructuring charges for 2002, as the company trimmed overheads in a softening market and took measures to grow its drug discovery efforts. The firm took a $35.7 million...

Boiron turnover increases in 2002 as exports improve.
March 3, 2003... Leading French homeopathic drugmaker Boiron has reported a 7.8% increase in turnover for 2002 on the back of strong exports. The company rang up sales of 287.1 million euros ($307.7 million), while net profits are expected to be in excess of...

Pierr Fabre names Roch Doliveux as deputy DG.
March 3, 2003... Roch Doliveux has been named as deputy director general of the independent French drugmaker Pierre Fabre and also as president of the board of Pierre Fabre Medicament. Mr Doliveux began his career in Basle with Ciba-Geigy, working first in...

Mylan reaches buspirone settlement with B-MS.
March 3, 2003... US generic drugmaker Mylan Laboratories has reached a final agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb which, it says, resolves all disputes between the firms related to buspirone (Marketletters passim). Under the terms of the deal, Mylan received...

ICN Pharma appoints Michael Kays as senior VP, global procurement.
March 3, 2003... ICN Pharmaceuticals has appointed Michael Kays, formerly with the Carlisle group of companies, as senior vice president, global procurement, with responsibility for streamlining company-wide processes to optimize ICN purchasing activities.

Nipro to boost contract drug manufacturing facilities.
March 3, 2003... Japanese contract drug manufacturer Nipro Corp plans to increase its facilities in order to expand licensed drug production, an area which is growing fast as a result of changes to the country's Pharmaceutical Affairs Law. It will spend 13...

Slovakia's Hemofarm opens new plant.
March 3, 2003... Slovakian firm Hemofarm has opened a new drug production plant at Banja Luka in Bosnia which involved an investment of 9.3 million euros ($10.0 million). Hemofarm Banja Luka, as it will be called, will be 78%-owned by the Slovak company and...

Werner Spinner steps down from Bayer AG management board.
March 3, 2003... Werner Spinner, a member of the board of management at Bayer AG, is leaving the company for personal reasons. As a result, the board's membership will be reduced from five to four. Though still subject to the firm's supervisory board's...

BioPhelia to triple production capacity.
March 3, 2003... French drug formulations company BioPhelia, which returned to break-even point last year, is to modernize and triple the production capacity of its plants at Chambray-les-Tours (specializing in liquid forms) and Monts (dry formulations). The...

UK Bioindustry Association names Aisling Burmand as chief executive.
March 3, 2003... The UK's BioIndustry Association has named Aisling Burmand as chief executive, replacing Crispin Kirkman, who has stepped down after completing a three-year contract in the post.

Dragon Pharma names James Harris VP sales and marketing; Robert Walsh director corporate development.
March 3, 2003... Canada's Dragon Pharmaceuticals names James Harris as vice president of sales and marketing, with a remit to prepare for European entry, and Robert Walsh as director, corporate development.

Japanese professors to set up stem cell research firm.
March 3, 2003... Researchers at Tokyo and Kyoto University are planning to set up a company to develop a new type of stem cell for making human organs and tissue, sources close to the matter, quoted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, said on February 25. The...

Vietnam's Mekophor exporting to Europe.
March 3, 2003... Mekophor, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical producer, is planning to export 80 tonnes of raw materials for the production of ampicillin to Europe this year, according to the Vietnamese News Agency. Last year, Mekophor exported 20 tonnes of such...

Banyu chief hits out at BoJ policy.
March 3, 2003... Kenjiro Nagasaka, chairman and president of Banyu Pharmaceutical, majority-owned by US drug major Merck & Co, has said that the Bank of Japan should fight deflation, but inflation targeting is outside the scope of its traditional mission,...

Axcan makes $100 million offering.
March 3, 2003... US firm Axcan Pharma has said that it intends to raise approximately $100 million through an offering of convertible notes due 2008. The notes will be unsecured, subordinated obligations of Axcan and will be convertible into the company's...

IMS Health and Harris Interactive form alliance.
March 3, 2003... IMS Health and Harris Interactive have announced a strategic alliance to jointly create next-generation market intelligence solutions for the pharmaceutical and health care industries. Together, the two companies say they will develop...

Kazakhstan/Russia pharma talks.
March 3, 2003... Pharmaceutical industry officials accompanied a business delegation from Russia's Penza region on a visit to Kazakhstan in early February, according to Kazakhstan Pravda. The delegation and Kazakh officials discussed possible bilateral...

Fujisawa files for new antifungal in Europe.
March 3, 2003... Fujisawa of Japan has filed for marketing approval of its new antifungal agent micafungin sodium in Europe, despite a knockback last month by the US Food and Drug Administration for the product, which will delay its launch there (Marketletter...

Roche and Chugai link up on arthritis drug.
March 3, 2003... Roche of Switzerland and its Japanese unit Chugai Pharmaceutical have announced the first product licensing deal to arise out of the two firms' broad-ranging collaboration signed in October of last year (Marketletter October 7, 2002). Under...

Kaken, Elitra to ally on antifungal R&D.
March 3, 2003... Kaken Pharmaceutical of Japan and the USA's Elitra Pharmaceuticals have entered into a multi-year collaboration for the discovery and development of novel antifungal drugs. The agreement calls for Elitra to conduct high-throughput screening...

Ono halts diabetes drug trial.
March 3, 2003... Ono Pharmaceutical of Japan has discontinued a Phase II study of ONO-5816, in development as a treatment for diabetes, after completing a study in animals which points to some potential toxicity issues. Ono was developing the drug outside...

Lilly takes sepsis, ED drugs into Phase II in Japan.
March 3, 2003... Eli Lilly Japan KK and development partner Teijin have started a Phase II trials program in Japan for the sepsis treatment drotrecogin alfa and tadalafil for erectile dysfunction. Both drugs are already on the market outside Japan, as Xigris...

Sumitomo lowers earnings forecasts.
March 3, 2003... Japan's Sumitomo Chemical has lowered its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002, on the back of anticipated growth in valuation losses on its securities holdings. The company says that such losses, including those...

New $35M facility opens in Singapore.
March 3, 2003... A new $35 million biomedical manufacturing facility was opened in Singapore earlier this year as the island state's government continues its drive towards building life sciences into a growth industry, reports The Straits Times. The first...

Gentris and Sankyo enter new partnership.
March 3, 2003... USA-based Gentris Corp and Sankyo Pharma, a subsidiary of Japanese pharmaceutical giant Sankyo, have entered into a far-reaching agreement intended to further the accurate administration of drugs to patients in a safe and effective manner. ...

Banyu's shareholders turn up heat on Merck.
March 3, 2003... Shareholders opposed to Merck & Co's $1.5 billion bid for Japanese drugmaker Banyu have increased pressure on the US drug major to up its bid, reports Reuters. Nearly 60 investors expressed concerns, in a conference call organized by a London,...

Italian pharma seeks govt promo clarity.
March 3, 2003... Pharmaceutical companies doing business in Italy will hold back on promotion of their products until the government determines which activities in this area are acceptable, the drug manufacturers' association, Farmindustria, has said. The...

UK NICE issues flu and diabetes guidances.
March 3, 2003... The National Institute for Clinical Excellence, which provides guidance on treatments to be made available on the National Health Service in England and Wales, has published a new technology appraisal guidance on the use of amantadine, Gilead...