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Dow Jones Newswires | Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced
plans to junk its $81 million takeover deal with rival drug developer
Myriad Pharmaceuticals Inc. after getting a $141 million offer from
Hospira Inc., which Javelin’s board has deemed as superior.
Javelin shares soared 63.4 percent, at $2.19 in recent trading, while
Hospira was down 3 cents at $56.22 and Myriad was inactive after closing
Friday at $4.53.
AP via Canadian Business | Drug and medical product developer Abbott Laboratories said Thursday its
$450 million buyout of Facet Biotech Corp. has passed an antitrust
regulatory waiting period.
Get the full story: canadianbusiness.com.
Dow Jones Newswires | Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions
Inc.’s fiscal third-quarter earnings jumped 39 percent, beating
analysts’ average view by a penny a share, helped by record sales and
improved margins.
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Indiana-based Hospital bed-maker Hill-Rom said it plans to open an office in Chicago and hired three Chicago-area executives who previously worked at Abbott, Baxter and Hospira.
Get the full story: chicagobusiness.com
From Bloomberg | Duane Reade, the drugstore chain purchased by Walgreen Co. for $618 million in February, is under fire. In New York on Wednesday, prosecutors told jurors that former CEO Anthony Cuti falsely inflated income at the drugstore chain and misled investors.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
Tribune staff report | Baxter International and Nycomed said today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved their TachoSil patch used to control bleeding in cardiovascular surgery.
TachoSil is a patented Nycomed product that is currently available in
more than 50 markets outside of the U.S. Baxter holds exclusive rights
to market and distribute TachoSil in the U.S. Nycomed will manufacture
the product and holds the license with the FDA. Baxter plans to launch
TachoSil during the second half of 2010.
Dow Jones Newswires | French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis Tuesday
said it has now settled patent infringement suits with six generic drug
manufacturers over its cancer drug Eloxatin, which will see them stop
selling copycat versions of the product in the U.S. from late June and
then re-start sales in August 2012.
Associated Press | Some pilots taking medication for mild or moderate depression will be
able to fly as early as next week under a new government rule aimed
partly at getting those taking antidepressants to disclose the
treatment.
The new policy, which takes effect Monday, reverses a ban on flying for
pilots taking medications like Prozac. Federal Aviation Administration
officials said the old rule was based on outdated versions of
antidepressants that could cause drowsiness and other side effects.
By Bruce Japsen | Horizon Therapeutics Inc. said it will acquire Switzerland-based Nitec Pharma AG in a merger of two privately held pharmaceutical companies just beginning to sell pain management and arthritis treatments around the world.
Financial terms of the deal, finalized today, were not disclosed by the companies. The combined company, which will be named Horizon Pharma, Inc., will be led by Horizon chief executive Timothy Walbert and have its headquarters in the northwest Chicago suburb of Northbrook.
A pharmacist filling an order at a Walgreens in downtown Chicago. (Brian Kersey/Bloomberg News)
Associated Press | Growth in U.S. sales of pharmaceuticals bounced back last year, as rebates and low-cost generic drugs drove an increase in the number of prescriptions filled, according to data tracking firm IMS Health. U.S. pharmaceutical sales climbed 5.1 percent to $300.3 billion in 2009, after two prior years of slower growth.
In response to the economic downturn, drug makers have been offering co-pay coupons and other programs to help patients pay for their prescriptions. Those programs combined with offers on low-cost generic drugs from Walgreens and other retailers to drive sales.
From Trading Markets | Abbott Laboratories says a test that could help identify patients at risk for acute kidney injury has been accepted for review by the FDA. If approved, it would be the first test available for use in the US for this purpose.
Get the full story: tradingmarkets.com.
Dow Jones Newswires | Debt-laden drug maker Wockhardt Ltd. has
been forced to abandon the sale of its nutrition business to Abbott
Laboratories because of a dispute with some of its overseas lenders.
But the news was greeted positively by investors Thursday, as fears the
company would now struggle to repay loans were outweighed by
expectations it could get a better price for its nutrition business
from a new suitor.
Dow Jones Newswires | Abbott Laboratories cut about 175 U.S. pharmaceutical sales representative positions earlier in March while shifting resources in the business, a company spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
The Abbott Park, Ill., company has about 83,000 employees worldwide.
From Barron’s | McDonald’s Corp. CEO Jim Skinner and Abbott Labs Chief Executive Miles White made Barron’s list of the 30 best CEOs in the world for keep their companies “safe and strong” during the downturn.
Get the full story: barrons.com
From the Chicago Daily Herald | North Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories is suing the Indian company Lupin Ltd. to prevent it from selling a copy of the cholesterol medicine Niaspan in the U.S.
Get the full story: dailyherald.com.
