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Auction for Amylin has no shortage of Big Pharma bidders
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/16/2012
The diabetes market around the world is growing.  And, since its latest product approval, Amylin is in the cat birds seat. Amylin has not commented on potential takeover bids since initial reports that Bristol-Myers Squibb made an offer last month.  [...]
Forbes: Big Pharma placing bets across the industry
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/15/2012
Below is a recent, well-written article in Forbes which correctly assumes that patent expiration and fewer drug approvals are driving the pharmaceutical industry to consolidate.  The stresses facing leading drug makers have turned the entire industry[...]
GSK pursues Human Genome Sciences
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/15/2012
After being rebuffed through an earlier offer to acquire Human Genome Sciences in April, GlaxoSmithKline will take its $2.6 billion tender offer directly to HGS shareholders through a hostile bid for the company.  “Shareholders should have the opport[...]
Congress, FDA on cusp of new approval process?
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/14/2012
Congress will vote on the proposed future for FDA User Fee Agreements sometime this summer, comically referred to by one Congressman as the oofahs (re:  PDUFA, MDUFMA, BSUFA, etc.).    More on that legislative process (which has been ongoing for almo[...]
Nominee for most bizarre, ridiculous new medical device
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/11/2012
This week is all about fat people for the life sciences industry.  As we reported in an earlier post, this week marks a critical point for FDA in their panel review of weight loss drugs which could set the stage for a handful of different manufacture[...]
Another go round for weight loss drugs at FDA
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/10/2012
Another diet pill is preparing to step before the FDA for review.  And, there’s some conveniently timed PR supporting its approval. According to the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 42% of Americans are expected to be categorized as obese b[...]
Zimmer CEO takes the helm as new AdvaMed Chairman
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/9/2012
With Stryker CEO Steve MacMillan stepping down, Advamed needed a new chairman for next year.  CEO Dave Dvorak from Zimmer stepped up. Now, fresh into the role Dvorak has announced his plan to help address economic and regulatory issues facing the med[...]
Busy week for Smith/Nephew with spinoff Bioventus, acquisition of Kalypto
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/8/2012
Smith & Nephew has spawned a new kid on the block, by launching a previously announced spinoff with Bioventus, formerly the biologics division of the company.  Bioventus is a joint venture with Essex Woodlands that is headquartered in Durham with rou[...]
Allergan quietly continues building its momentum
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/7/2012
While the biggest of Big Pharma have been toiling with pipelines & patent cliffs, a few have been quietly accelerating their growth in comparison. Allergan reported earnings this morning; and, in a conversation with CEO David Pyott, CNBC discussed Bo[...]
FDA Commish Hamburg interviewed on Federal Drive
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/7/2012
Dr. Margaret Hamburg has been a very visible and vocal FDA Commissioner in the past three years.  While she shies away from controversial debate and oftentimes avoids releasing significant policy in interviews, she does engage with the industry and c[...]
Need a laugh? Top Recruiter
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/4/2012
The team at Beaker is all about talent.  And, our works passion is bringing together the talent and employers of the life sciences industry.  So when something like Top Recruiter comes alongwe just cant resist. Top Recruiter is a new (hopeful) realit[...]
LIFE CEO highlights company, earnings on Mad Money
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/4/2012
In the wake of Roches aggressive pursuit of Illumina, its impossible not to consider potential deals within other leading sequencing companies. And while Life Technologies is much more diversified and only counts a fraction of their overall business [...]
Pfizer beats the street on Lipitor revenue crash
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/3/2012
Lipitor’s patent expired last fall, on November 30th to be exact.  Yet, that has not slowed Pfizer, posting better than expected earnings driven mostly by cost cuts across the business. Some drugs did fare well, including Lyrica, Celebrex and Enbrel [...]
Johnson & Johnson CEO Takes the Reigns
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/2/2012
Alex Gorsky is the newly crowned CEO of Johnson & Johnson. In his competition to succeed Bill Weldon, Gorsky surpassed other longstanding J&J execs and has now taken the helm of the most prestigious company in the life sciences industry, at an imperf[...]
Illumina, HGS and Amylin: The art of turning down billions
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/1/2012
Human Genome Sciences rejected GlaxoSmithKlines $2.6 billion acquisition bid, apparently because the offer undervalues the company (in their opinion). In this high stakes environment of acquisitions, several companies have been taking this tack.  Ill[...]
National Bioeconomy Blueprint, latest from Washington DC
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 5/1/2012
Last week, the White House released a broad strategy to develop a bioeconomy in the United States.  The National Bioeconomy Blueprint, as the plan is called, discusses a variety of measures and strategies to promote research of medical treatments, cr[...]
After BMS bid, Amylin seeking other buyers?
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/27/2012
Following an unsolicited $3.5B bid from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amylin is now looking for other buyers through financial advisers Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.  The BMS bid caused an uproar, mostly by investor activist Carl Icahn, who has been pushi[...]
B Braun, Medtronic open new frontier with drug-coated balloons
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/26/2012
Do you remember the drug-eluting stent (DES) wars about a decade ago?  The first DES products were approved in 2003 for Boston Scientific, J&J and Guidant.  And they sparked a fierce competition for this new market once dominated by bare metal stents[...]
New Senate bill would accelerate approval of breakthrough drugs
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/25/2012
Three Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would expedite the development and FDA approval of breakthrough drugs. The Advancing Breakthrough Therapies for Patients Act would provide the flexibility in approval mechanisms so home-run treatm[...]
Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer is a good listener
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/24/2012
Kevin Sharer is the outgoing Chairman and CEO of Amgen.  He serves on the Board of 3M, Northrup Grumman and the California Institute for Technology.  He is a Naval Academy graduate and generally regarded as a strong leader and very smart guy.  While [...]
Biologic RA treatments unseat statins as worlds leading medicines
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/23/2012
Humira, a rheumatoid arthritis drug from Abbott Labs, will be the worlds top-selling medicine this year, with sales predicted to hit $9.3 billion.   Humira is a biologic, which reiterates the need for Big Pharma to embrace the development of biopharm[...]
Should drug reps be paid overtime? Supreme Court to decide.
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/19/2012
The Supreme Court has been a docket full of life sciences during their ongoing session.  Perhaps never in the courts history has it faced so many cases and decisions related to our industry.  In the past month, the court has heard issues related to O[...]
Illumina fights off hostile bid, slays the Roche dragon
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/18/2012
San Diego-based Illumina has slayed the dragon in successfully battling back a $6.2 billion hostile takeover bid from Roche. Shareholders voted to re-elect all of Illumina’s incumbent directors at the company’s annual meeting by a large margin, defea[...]
Bydureon vs. Victoza pits Amylin against Novo Nordisk
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/17/2012
As weve detailed this month, two of the most compelling story lines in the sciences industry are playing out in the southern California sun. In medical devices, Roche continues its pursuit of Illumina, having raised its earlier bid for the company an[...]
Roche CEO to Illumina: You are no Apple
Jeffrey Clark - Posted: 4/16/2012
Weve all learned the lesson:  Roche gets what it wants.  If you dont believe, ask the former decision makers at Ventana Medical Systems and Genentech, now both loyal divisions within the Roche corporate matrix. The newest target is Illumina, which ha[...]
 
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