Have you ever allowed yourself what you thought was ample time to drive somewhere, only to be delayed by a construction crew that was repairing the roads? Obviously, things don’t always work out as we plan them. Judging by its latest announcement about its facility ameliorations, Genzyme (Cambridge, MA) must have learned this lesson, too. Read more »

The past two weeks have seen dozens of third-party headlines speculating about sanofi aventis possibly making a move to acquire Genzyme. Officially, there has been no word with both companies remaining extremely cagey about any of the details. However, Reuters, Bloomberg and a few other sources claim to have squeezed out a few dribbles of information from “people familiar with the situation” and anonymous staff members. So let’s take a look at what may (or may not be) the current situation. Read more »

Research and development (R&D) scientists may have been feeling down in the dumps lately. Many of them have lost their jobs in the last few months as a result of mergers and cost-cutting projects. But these sometimes underappreciated workers may soon get more respect, thanks to a US government initiative. Read more »

Big biopharmaceutical companies likely struck up a chorus of “We’re in the Money” upon hearing Ernst and Young’s report that the world’s established biotechnology markets achieved profitability in 2009 for the first time ever. Mostly by dint of cost cutting, major players such as Genzyme (Cambridge, MA) moved out of the red and into the black. Making a profit was no small feat during the economic downturn, and large biopharmaceutical companies have a right to celebrate. Small companies and startups, however, are more likely to sing along with Bob Dylan, “It’s not dark yet, but it’s gettin’ there.” Read more »

Reading the news sometimes gives me a disorienting sense of déjà vu. I know I wrote that last week, but it’s true again for a different reason. Today, French heavyweight sanofi aventis (Paris) announced that it was acquiring a majority stake in Shantha Biotechnics (Hyderabad, India). This new development follows a now-familiar pattern. Read more »

Reading the news sometimes gives me a disorienting sense of déjà vu. I felt it again when I read that Ranbaxy (Gurgaon, Haryana, India) had recalled a batch of its acne drug isotretinoin after the US Food and Drug Administration found that the product’s dissolution-test results were out of specification. Didn’t this happen once before? Read more »

Eli Lilly & Co. (Indianapolis) CEO John Lechleiter earlier this week told the Financial Times that he is not interested in becoming part of the recent mega-merger trend (see Pfizer+Wyeth, Merck+Schering-Plough and Roche+Genentech). Rumors and speculation have had some thinking Lilly+Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) would be the next big thing, but Lechleiter specifically ended rumors of that combination and remained critical of Big Pharma’s recent big deals. Read more »

How do you boost a flagging pipeline? One strategy is to enlist more researchers to find promising drug candidates. Two heads are better than one, and the more minds applied to the task, the more likely they will find increasingly elusive new therapies. The Pfizer–Wyeth and Merck–Schering Plough mergers are partly based on this premise.

Trouble is, the premise might not hold water. Read more »

It’s déjà vu all over again. Little more than a month after Pfizer (New York) announced that it would acquire Wyeth (Madison, NJ), Merck (Whitehouse Station, NJ) and Schering-Plough (Kenilworth, NJ) have unveiled their own merger agreement. The combined company will be called Merck and be based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan will help during the merger, but Merck’s CEO Richard Clark will lead the combined company. Read more »

Pfizer’s pending $68-billion merger with Wyeth has raised the question on possible suitors in another merger among the pharmaceutical majors. A recent article in the New York Times gained the input of Wall Street analysts, who speculate that Merck, Sanofi-Aventis, and Johnson & Johnson may be next in line to seek acquisitions among their Big Pharma brethen or in select biotechnology companies. Read more »