ChronicleMIDWEEK
From the publishers of THE CHRONICLE OF CANCER THERAPY, THE CHRONICLE OF CARDIOVASCULAR & INTERNAL MEDICINE, THE CHRONICLE OF NEUROLOGY & PSYCHIATY, THE CHRONICLE OF SKIN & ALLERGY, THE CHRONICLE OF UROLOGY & SEXUAL MEDICINE, PHYSICIANS’ CHRONICLE, THE CHRONICLE OF HEALTHCARE MARKETING, LINACRE’S BOOKS, and chronicl*e group
ALARMING REPORT ON DRUGBIZ HR: AN ‘ENTIRE GENERATION’ TO BE DOWNSIZED
NOW COULD BE A VERY GOOD TIME to fear for your career. A report about to be issued by Regent Atlantic Capital predicts up to 50,000 North American middle- and upper-management will be chopped from their drugbiz jobs, as the industry contracts and out-sources. That figure — which doesn’t include detailers or lab-workers — is described in the document as “an entire generation.” That number also doesn’t include downsizing prior to 2007, or this year’s headcount reductions: nearly 29,000 axed at Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Bayer and Johnson & Johnson alone. Bristol-Myers Squibb plans to announce its latest downsizing move in just two weeks. Management, legal and financial jobs in the company’s Manhattan HQ will be eliminated, along with up to 20 per cent of all positions worldwide. BMS will reportedly shutter half its 38 global plants, leading to speculation locally on the future of the company’s aging Montreal facility. More info =>
BIOVAIL, LABOPHARM FEEL PAIN OF INCREASINGLY OBSTINATE US REGULATORS
THE US FDA HANDED A PAIR OF DISAPPOINTMENTS this week to two of Canada’s leading publicly traded drugmakers. Biovail received word the agency will need more six months to review an od salt formulation of antidepressant bupropion. The G-men earlier turned thumbs down on the product’s dossier. Biovail prexy Doug Squires said he was “surprised,” and investors responded to the news by shedding stock, sending the company’s market value down 10 per cent or so. Meanwhile, Labopharm learned the FDA isn’t in a hurry to overturn a decision made in May to seek more data on od analgesic tramadol. Labo shares hover at just over a buck on the TSX, leading an analyst to mutter, “In the absence of clear pipeline developments or visibility on the US regulatory process, the stock will continue to drift.” More info =>
GLAXOSMITHKLINE PAYS BIG PREMIUM TO BUY GROWING CV TX PLAYER RELIANT
GLAXOSMITHKLINE today (11/21) spent US$1.65 billion to buy Reliant Pharmaceuticals, a maker of CV Txs, including dyslipidemia Tx Lovaza. Net sales of Lovaza, a non-statin, were $206 million for the first three quarters of 2007, 115 per cent more than the corresponding period last year. Oddly, Reliant doesn’t even own the product: it in-licenses stateside rights Pronova BioPharma of Norway. Pronova has out-licensed rights in other jurisdictions to other companies, but GSK still sees value in its deal with Reliant. Chris Viehbacher, stateside pharma prexy, calls Lovaza “a new driver of sales growth in the US business. It represents a strong strategic fit.” More info=>
PHARMION SELLS SELF TO CELGENE, FOR $2.9 BILLION
CELGENE, the number four biotechie, Monday (11/21) paid US$2.9 billion for Colorado-based Pharmion, maker of hemotology Txs, including azacitidine (Vidaza,) the first FDA-approved Tx for myelodysplastic syndromes. The price represented a 50 per cent premium over Pharmion’s publicly traded shares. Analyst Michael King tells Bloomberg news: “It’s a great move for Celgene. Vidaza has the potential to be a billion-dollar product.” Pharmion owned EU rights to Celgene’s thalidomide formulation. More info =>
MEDICARE’S NOT-QUITE-AUDACIOUS MISSION: IF YOU WANT A DOCTOR, YOU SHOULD HAVE ONE
QUEBEC SAYS IT’S READY to address the province’s physician shortage, and will start paying the province’s 8,000 GPs nearly what they’d make if they worked in Cornwall, Ont. That’s still less than what they’d earn in Ogdensburg, N.Y., but at least it’s a start. Actually, it’s a slow start: Quebec health minister Philippe Couillard agreed to a 19.3 per cent raise for the medicos, but it won’t fully kick in until 2016. Couillard says he’ll top up more money for docs who accept more patients. Says the minister: “The long-term objective is for all Quebecers who are looking for a family doctor to have one.” Thanks a heap, M. Couillard, but, um, wouldn’t Article 25 of the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights recognize that as a basic right of all people everywhere? More info =>
ASTRAZENECA CONSIDERS TINKERING WITH ITS LOGISTICS STRATEGY: REPORT
ASTRAZENECA, struggling to come up with bright ideas on how to improve its balance sheet, may be planning to clean up its warehouses, reports Reuters news agency. Maintaining six months worth of inventory is the industry norm, but AZ is thinking about reducing that to three months, says reporter Ben Hirschler. He quotes a company spokesman as saying: “AstraZeneca has not issued definitive guidance around inventory outstanding days although we are focused on improving inventory terms as part of our overall strategic approach to improve efficiencies and cost effectiveness of our supply chain and operations area.” Analysts say if AZ empties its warehouses, other drugmakers will follow the example. More info =>
(c) 2007 Chronicle Information Resources Ltd. Not for redistribution.
ChronicleMIDWEEK is published by Chronicle Information Resources Ltd, 555 Burnhamthorpe Road Ste. 602, Toronto, Ont. M9C 2Y3. Tel 416.916.CHROn (2476); Toll-free 866.63.CHRON (24766); Fax 416.352-6199; E-mail: health@chronicle.org
