Watch out everyone, Novartis have got their checkbook out.
Chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella said on Monday the Basel-based company would look at all merger deals in principle but turn down any opportunity it deemed too pricey or not a good fit.
Clearly Chiron, at US $ 5.1 billion, was seen as being a snip!
So much so that Insiders' German friends are whispering that Novartis may still have enough in the bank to pick up troubled Altanas' pharma business (at a reasonable price, of course).
The growth of Altana's pharmaceuticals arm has been powered by strong sales of its proton pump inhibitor, Pantozol/Protonix (pantoprazole), which generated $1.5 billion in sales in 2004. However, this product is entering its mature sales growth phase.
Altanas' future has increasingly focused on its two respiratory pipeline products, namely Alvesco (ciclesonide), an inhaled corticosteroid for the treatment of asthma, and Daxas (roflumilast), a phosphodiesterase-IV inhibitor for COPD.
To ensure strong market uptake and rapid penetration of the asthma and COPD markets, Altana formed marketing and development collaborations with Sanofi-Aventis (for Alvesco) and Pfizer (for Daxas), following a similar strategy as used in its successful collaboration with Wyeth over pantoprazole.
However, in July, Altana announced that its collaboration with Pfizer would be terminated, following disappointing top-line results from a pivotal phase III study.
Altana has also faced problems with Alvesco, having received an FDA approvable letter in October 2004 for the treatment of persistent asthma.
While partner Sanofi-Aventis is currently working with the FDA to address the clinical data requests outlined in the letter, the launch delay has denied Altana a key revenue stream.
Additionally, Altana will have a number of difficulties in marketing the drug at the approved dosing level in the EU, which may be too low to demonstrate its safety benefit over the competition, in patients with moderate or severe asthma who require high-dose inhaled corticosteroids.
Insider says: This second purchase would be a bold move, let's see if Novartis go for it.
Source: InPharm.com
No comments:
Post a Comment