Biologics are still the hot commodity in the drug industry. Observers call large-molecule drugs the therapies of the future, and these medicines’ complexity makes them difficult for would-be follow-on manufacturers to create. Big Pharma companies that have not yet acquired biopharmaceuticals firms are considering doing so to bolster their pipelines and profits. But not all biologics companies are living large, as data from Ernst & Young remind us. Read more »

Makers of small-molecule drugs are in treacherous waters. The Scylla of generic-drug competition rears on the horizon, ready to bite into innovators’ profits. At the same time, companies’ research-and-development productivity seems to have been sucked down into Charybdis. How will drugmakers survive these perils? Read more »

To make up for weak pipelines, and to take arms against a sea of generic-drug competitors, many large pharmaceutical companies have pursued mergers and acquisitions. This strategy began to gain popularity about 10 years ago, and the industry’s new motto seems to be “When the going gets tough, the big get bigger.” Has this strategy improved drugmakers’ pipelines or bottom lines? Read more »

Mention New Jersey to someone on the street, and he or she is likely to think of Springsteen, the Sopranos, or (God forbid) Snooki. But PharmTech readers know that New Jersey is an important state for the drug industry. Many big companies, such as Johnson and Johnson, sanofi-aventis, Novartis, and Pfizer, have headquarters or other offices in the state. And the Garden State’s drugmakers are facing the same difficulties that confront the industry at large. Read more »

Buying a new company isn’t an easy process, as clearly shown by one of the industry’s most talked about potential mergers: Sanofi and Genzyme have been talking for months now, but there’s still no indication that a deal will take place. Sanofi made a tender offer last year to acquire the company at $69 per share, but had to extend the original December 2010 deadline to 21 Janaury 2011 after less than 1% of shares were tendered. The tender offer is still open, but there’s no indication that the result will be favorable to Sanofi. Read more »

There was no joy in Paris, at least at sanofi-aventis (Paris) headquarters, on Friday. When the company’s offer to acquire Genzyme (Cambridge, MA) at $69 per share expired that day, fewer than 1% of the biopharmaceutical company’s outstanding shares had been tendered. In response, sanofi extended its deadline to January 21, 2011 without modifying the terms of its offer. Why should the company expect a different result in six weeks’ time? Read more »

Wall Street analysts gave Eli Lilly (Indianapolis, IN) executives the third degree last Thursday when the company presented its third-quarter results. Lilly’s revenue had increased only 2%, mostly because it had raised its prices. Although demand for its products had stayed flat, the company boosted its profits by 38% mostly through layoffs and cost-cutting measures. The patents on many of the company’s top drugs (e.g., Zyprexa and Actos) will expire in the next few years, however, and no new drugs seem poised to replace them. Analysts wanted to know how Lilly would weather the storm. Read more »

Having acquired 77% of Alcon, Novartis now has its eyes on the remaining few shares, which lie in the hands of minority shareholders, but will it be able to acquire them? Novartis says yes — and that it has the law on its side — but Alcon says no — and that it also has the law on its side. Read more »

Genzyme, Genzyme, Genzyme… Most of us won’t have missed the company’s name splashed across dozens of news stories this week relating to a potential acquisition, the selling of its genetics unit and 1000 layoffs. First of all, there’s the ongoing question of whether Genzyme will succumb to sanofi-aventis’ acquisition offer. Genzyme reportedly rejected the offer of $69 per share at the end of August, but sanofi has yet to offer a higher price. Sanofi CEO Chris Viehbacher is still hoping for a “reasonable price”, according to a Reuters article, though he also added that he expects the process to be slow. A report from Bloomberg also speculated that the offer may have to be upped to $75 per share to please Genzyme investors. Read more »

Now it’s official. Rumors about sanofi-aventis’s (Paris) desire to purchase Genzyme (Cambridge, MA) have stirred speculation for weeks. The French drugmaker laid its cards on the table on Sunday by publishing its offer letter to Henri Termeer, Genzyme’s CEO. Sanofi proposed to pay $69 in cash per Genzyme share, or a total of about $18.5 billion, to acquire the biologics manufacturer. On Friday, Genzyme shares closed at $67.62.

Termeer’s response came this morning. It can be summed up in two words: nothing doing. Read more »