Chemistry World Blog

GSK goes to shareholders with HGS bid – BASF invests in omega-3 – And Abbott hit with $1.5bn Depakote fine (more…)

Novartis expands generics business with $1.5 billion purchase – new Gaucher drug – And DSM makes buys medical business

PHARMACEUTICAL – Novartis is expanding its generics activities with the purchase of US firm Fougera, which specialises in dermatology drugs. Novartis will pay $1.5 billion (£930 million) in cash for Fougera, currently owned by a group of private equity firms. The company already has a large presence in the generics industry through Sandoz, its generics subsidiary, which made 2011 sales of $9.5 billion. It says that the addition of Fougera, which made 2011 sales of $430 million, will make Sandoz the number one generics manufacturer in the dermatology area. Fougera employs 700 people across two main sites in New York, US.

PHARMACEUTICAL – US authorities have approved a new treatment for Gaucher’s disease: Elelyso (taliglucerase alfa) injections from Pfizer and Protalix. The dominant player in this area is Genzyme with its Cerezyme (imiglucerase) injections, approved way back in 1994. The Cerezyme brand has generated a lot of sales for Genzyme, $720 million in 2010, but the company has struggled to meet demand since a viral infection at its primary manufacturing site halted supply in 2009. Like Cerezyme injections, Elelyso injections are an enzyme replacement therapy, containing a form of human lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase. But they’re quite distinct in another way: the active agent is the first of any for the treatment of any condition that is made from plants as biological factories. In this case, carrots cells have been genetically engineered to mass produce the foreign compound as they grow and divide. Pfizer gave a heavy nod to the supply problems at Genzyme in its press release: ‘To help minimize the possibility of supply disruptions, Pfizer is launching the “Supply Continuity Program,” which will endeavour to maintain a continuously restocked 24 months of supply at various stages of production for US patients prescribed Elelyso.’

CHEMICAL – Netherlands speciality chemical company DSM is set to buy US medical devices company Kensey Nash for $360 million. Kensey Nash specialises in regenerative medicine based on collagen and synthetic polymers. It employs 325 people, made 2011 sales of $72 million and is best known for its arterial closure device. DSM is looking to build a strong position in bio-passive (medical coatings and polymers) bio-active (resorbable polymers and drug delivery) and bio-interactive (regenerative medicine and tissue engineering) materials.

CHEMICAL – German chemical giant BASF has bought the polyamide (PA) polymer business of the Mazzaferro Group, strengthening its position in ‘engineering’ plastics and polyamide polymers in South America. The companies have agreed not to disclose financial details of the deal. BASF will take control of the polymerisation plant at São Bernardo do Campo in the metropolitan area of São Paulo, which has a capacity of roughly 20,000 metric tons per year. About 100 employees will transfer to BASF.

CHEMICAL – A new organisation has been established by the major photovoltaics manufacturers to ‘expand the global deployment of solar energy in a sustainable and cost-competitive way’. The Global Solar Council will be headed by Roland-Jan Meijer, who said: ‘The Global Solar Council is an important and timely industry initiative. It demonstrates a strong commitment by key players in the sector to work together to continue to make solar energy a global success.’ Applied Materials, Dow Corning, DuPont, First Solar, Lanco Solar, Phoenix Solar and Suntech have helped found the organisation, which will be complementary to regional trade associations.

Andrew Turley

Watson buys Actavis for €4.3bn – Jazz buys Eusa for $700 million – AZ boss retires (more…)

Solvay plans to for €3bn in earnings – Merck KGaA to cut 500 jobs – And Amgen buys Turkish drugmaker (more…)

GSK sells more brands – Roche abandons Illumina chase – And Lonza to develop bee silk products (more…)

Merck and Endocyte in $120 million deal – intestinal Parkinson’s gel gets positive results – and UK government gives fracking the green light (more…)

J&J gets $1.1bn Risperdal fine – Cytec buys Umeco for $440m – And algae oil company raises $144m for demo plant (more…)

Takeda buys gout drug company for $800m – US approves new imaging drug – And EMA supports trial data access

PHARMACEUTICAL – Japanese drug maker Takeda has signed an $800 million (£500 million) deal to buy privately owned US company URL Pharma. URL Pharma is a pharmaceutical company with 2011 calendar year revenues of nearly $600 million. The top URL brand is Colcrys (colchicine) for treating and preventing gout, a condition caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood leading to the formation of crystals in joints, tendons and surrounding tissues. Colcrys products generated sales of over $430 million in 2011. URL employs about 500 people.

PHARMACEUTICAL – A new drug for use in positron emission tomography (PET) to help evaluate whether a person has Alzheimer’s disease has been approved in the US. Amyvid injections contain florbetapir F-18, which binds to the amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease and contains radioactive fluorine-18. Clinicians can use these injections to measure the density of amyloid plaques in the brain using PET. Amyloid plaques are clumps of abnormal β-amyloid protein. A negative Amyvid scan indicates few plaques and reduces the likelihood that any observed cognitive impairment is a result of Alzheimer’s disease. The drug was developed by Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, which was bought by Eli Lilly in December 2010 in deal worth up to $800 million.

CHEMICAL – DuPont has opened a $40 million plant genetics R&D site in the US. The site – in Johnston, Iowa – will create 400 jobs focused on the development of new genetically modified crop varieties. DuPont says that it will invest $10 billion globally in R&D focused on food, agriculture and nutrition by the end of 2020.

PHARMACEUTICAL – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given its support for free and public access to all clinical trial data associated with approved treatments. In a perspective published in the journal PLoS Medicine, regulators at the EMA say that it is ‘neither desirable nor realistic to maintain the status quo of limited availability of regulatory trials data’. Clinical trial data should not be thought of as ‘commercial confidential information’ and drug companies and regulators should not have a monopoly on crunching the data, they add. But appropriate measures would have to be put in place to first maintain patient confidentiality and prevent misuse of data by rival companies.

PHARMACEUTICAL – US biotech Amgen has signed a deal to buy privately owned drug development company KAI Pharmaceuticals for $315 million. The move will give Amgen access to KAI-4169, a Phase II drug candidate for treating secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients on dialysis with chronic kidney disease. Secondary hyperparathyroidism is excessive secretion of parathyroid hormone by the parathyroid glands in response to hypocalcaemia, a disorder often seen in patients with chronic kidney disease. KAI-4169 is a peptide agonist of the calcium sensing receptor, which affects calcium levels by modulating the release of parathyroid hormone.

Andrew Turley

Tobacco firms to report cigarette chemicals – Dow to cut 900 jobs – And Valeant moves to Montreal (more…)

US approves new anaemia drug – Seroquel patent row continues – And Dow partners with Oz university (more…)