Eurobench.com

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 07:47

0

quote:
h.vdbilt schreef:
Wat is de volgende stap? PER.C6 op je bord?

Een lapje insectenvlees op het bord
UTRECHT/WAGENINGEN - 19-01-2007 - Wetenschappers verwachten dat in de nabije toekomst vleesvervangers gemaakt van insectencellen op de markt zullen komen. Insectenvlees heeft namelijk een hoge voedingswaarde, maar het eten van de beestjes in hun natuurlijke staat schrikt Westerse mensen af.

Dat voorspelt voedingstechnoloog Marjoleine Verkerk, die aan de Wageningen Universiteit promoveert op een onderzoek naar de toepassing van insectencellen. Verkerk experimenteert vooral met de larve van de zijderups. Bedrijven gebruiken insectencellen al voor de productie van industrieel eiwit.

© Tiscali/ANP

lekker hoor die sprinkhanen cornflakes in de morgen!

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 08:08

0

Vleesvervangers gemaakt van insectencellen.....yeah right, geen vis, vlees, gevogelte, gelatine(botjes) en kaas met dierlijk stremsel.

Daar zet geen vegetarier zijn tanden in.

Armin Meiwes wil misschien nog wel een blikje PER.C6 opentrekken.

Yakkie yakkie yakkie!

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 08:25

0

quote:
h.vdbilt schreef:
RTRS-Meer winst Merck door goede verkoop lcd-kristallen
DARMSTADT (ANP) - Het Duitse concern Merck, dat het
Zwitserse biotechnologiebedrijf Serono koopt voor 10,6 miljard
euro, heeft in het vierde kwartaal een nettowinst geboekt van
129,5 miljoen euro tegen 109,5 miljoen euro een jaar eerder. De
omzet steeg met 9 procent tot 1,63 miljard euro. Dat maakte het
farmacie- en chemieconcern donderdag bekend.

Merck KGaA Sets Details of 2 Bln Euro Capital Rise
Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:04 AM GMT
By Knut Engelmann and David Milliken
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German drugs and chemicals group Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE: Quote, Profile , Research) on Sunday detailed a long-awaited plan to raise more than 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) to help finance its recent acquisition of Serono (SERO.VX: Quote, Profile , Research) and become Europe's top biotech group.
Merck said in a statement that it would issue 13.28 million new shares at 78.00 euros each to existing investors and to the Merck family, which holds 73 percent of the world's oldest pharmaceuticals-chemicals conglomerate via E. Merck OHG.
Existing shareholders in Merck will be able to subscribe to the 7.08 million shares of the new issue -- which is at a discount to Friday's closing price of 87.38 euros -- at a rate of four new shares for every 29 shares they already own.
E. Merck OHG will have the right to subscribe to the remaining 6.20 million shares, but said it intends to place these subscription rights, and increase its equity interest by 34 million euros and a premium of 1.019 billion euros.
"Merck KGaA expects to generate proceeds amounting to approximately 2.055 billion euros from the capital increase by issuing 13,278,927 new shares and from the intended increase of the equity interest of ... E. Merck OHG," Merck said in a statement.
Sources close to the deal had told Reuters earlier on Sunday that the deal's terms were about to be released, which Merck had said was planned for the first three months of 2007 and helps meet the 11-billion-euro price tag for Serono.
Merck has also said it may sell its generic drugs business, which had sales of 1.82 billion euros last year. Analysts said a sale of the unit, estimated to be worth more than 4 billion euros, would help it pay off debt from the Serono purchase and avoid a deterioration in its credit rating.
Lees verder via
www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi/NGoto/183257046...

www.merck.de/servlet/PB/menu/1001723/...

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 08:31

0

Novartis and Mochida Pharmaceutical to Co-promote Diovan in Japan

Tokyo, Japan, Jan 22, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - Novartis Pharma K.K. and Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. today announced that the two companies have signed a contract to co-promote the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) Diovan(R) (valsartan) in Japan. Based on this agreement, the two companies will begin co-promoting Diovan in February 2007.

The contract of this time has been made possible because Novartis Pharma, which aims to further increase growth of Diovan with a superior effect in the ARB market where competition is intensifying, and Mochida Pharmaceutical, which desires to provide additional strengths to its business foundation in the cardiovascular area that is a focused area of the company, had a common purpose.

"We are very pleased that we could build a partnership with Mochida Pharmaceutical, a company that is continuing to grow in the cardiovascular area through products such as Atelec and Epadel," says Noriyuki Baba, President, Novartis Pharma K.K. "We look forward to giving additional support to hypertensive patients by providing further information to medical professions to support the efficacy and safety of Diovan."
www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=...

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 09:00

0

SCIENCE
Notebook
Monday, January 22, 2007; Page A08
Medical Breakthrough? The Laurels Go to Sewers

What was the most important medical breakthrough of the last 167 years? The structure of DNA? Nope. The invention of vaccines? Nope. Antibiotics? Sorry.
According to a poll by the British Medical Journal, the answer is: Sewers.
To mark a redesign of the prestigious medical journal, the editors decided to poll readers about what they considered the greatest medical milestone since 1840, the year the forerunner of the journal started publishing.
More than 11,000 readers responded, and sanitation won with 1,795 votes. London was one of the first modern cities to improve public sanitation after John Snow showed that cholera was spread by water, and Edwin Chadwick came up with the idea of sewage disposal and piping water into homes.
Antibiotics was a close second with 1,642 votes. Anesthesia came in third with 1,574 votes, followed by vaccines and the discovery of the structure of DNA.
"The general lesson which still holds is that passive protection against health hazards is often the best way to improve population health," said Johan Mackenbach of Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, who nominated sanitation.
The journal noted that inadequate sanitation is still a major problem in the developing world. In 2001, unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene accounted for more than 1.5 million deaths from diarrheal diseases.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content...

www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/supp...

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 09:56

0

NicOx launches a E130 million rights issue to advance naproxcinod and broader pipeline
(22/01/07 07:00 CET)

Not for distribution in or into the United States, Canada, Japan or Australia

January 22, 2007. Sophia Antipolis, France. www.nicox.com

NicOx S.A. (Eurolist: COX) today announced the launch of a capital increase of approximately E130 million. The Company is offering new ordinary shares at a subscription price to be announced on January 29, 2007, to which existing NicOx shareholders will have preferential subscription rights. This capital increase will allow NicOx to further support the development of its drug candidates and in particular the Company's lead compound, naproxcinod, which is in phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis.

"This important offering will support our strategy of building NicOx into a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on the cardiometabolic and inflammatory disease areas," commented Michele Garufi, Chairman and CEO of NicOx. "In particular, the funds from this offering will help maximize the value of naproxcinod, our lead development compound, by financing the completion of the regulatory phase 3 clinical trials, together with the initial pre-marketing to support the launch of the compound."

The capital increase is expected to allow NicOx to raise approximately E130 million. The holders of preferential subscription rights will be able to sell all or part of these rights if they decide not to subscribe, or to subscribe only in part for new shares. Shareholders will also be entitled to subscribe for additional new shares on a reductible basis (à titre réductible). The preferential subscription rights will be allocated on 30 January, 2007 for shareholders who are registered as owning shares at the close of trading on 29 January, 2007. The subscription period will be open from 30 January, 2007, to 5 February, 2007 inclusive. During this time, the preferential subscription rights will be listed and negotiable on Eurolist by EuronextTM Paris. The capital increase is being underwritten by a syndicate of banks lead-managed by Merrill Lynch International and UBS Investment Bank as Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners and including Lazard-NATIXIS and Piper Jaffray as Joint Lead Managers.

Final characteristics of the offering, including the number of new shares to be issued and the subscription price at which existing shareholders will be able to subscribe for the new shares, will be decided by the Company on January 29, 2007, and disclosed on the same day. The offer will be open to the public only in France. The settlement, delivery and listing of the new shares is expected to take place on 16 February, 2007. New shares will be fungible with existing shares listed on Eurolist by EuronextTM Paris.

NicOx' most advanced drug candidate, naproxcinod, is the first in a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs known as CINODs (COX-Inhibiting Nitric Oxide-Donators). Unlike existing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), naproxcinod appears to have no detrimental effect on blood pressure. This potential advantage is significant, as a small increase in blood pressure is a known risk factor contributing to an increase of cardiovascular diseases and mortality. In October 2006, NicOx announced positive topline results from the first phase 3 trial for naproxcinod (study 301), in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, which showed superiority to placebo on all three co-primary efficacy endpoints and a sustained reduction in blood pressure versus baseline and naproxen, an NSAID commonly prescribed for the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis.

The rights issue announced today should allow NicOx to complete the regulatory clinical development of naproxcinod. Two further pivotal phase 3 trials are expected to be initiated in the first half of 2007 (studies 302 and 303), in line with the Company's target of filing the first regulatory submission in the United States in the first quarter of 2009. This share capital increase should also help NicOx maximize the commercial and economic value of naproxcinod during its evaluation of strategic options, which may include co-commercializing this potential leading drug.

In addition, NicOx expects to initiate two new phase 2 studies for NCX 4016 in type 2 diabetes during the first half of 2007. NCX 4016 is a nitric oxide-donating derivative of acetyl-salicylic acid (aspirin), which NicOx intends to position as the first in a new class of drugs targeting insulin resistance, with a potentially improved safety profile and a different mechanism of action from existing type 2 diabetes treatments.

In the longer term, NicOx plans to broaden and advance the research and preclinical development of proprietary nitric oxide-donating drugs in its core therapeutic areas, where the potential of NicOx' technology has already been demonstrated.

NicOx (Bloomberg: COX:FP, Reuters: NCOX.PA) is a product-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of nitric oxide-donating drugs to meet unmet medical needs. NicOx is targeting the therapeutic areas of pain and inflammation and cardio-metabolic disease. Resources are focused on two lead compounds, naproxcinod (formerly HCT 3012), in phase 3 development for the treatment of osteoarthritis, and NCX 4016, in phase 2 for type 2 diabetes. NicOx has strategic partnerships with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer Inc. and Merck and Co., Inc.

NicOx S.A. is headquartered in Sophia-Antipolis, France, and is a public company listed on the Eurolist of EuronextTM Paris (segment: Next Economy).

PUBLIC INFORMATION:

The prospectus approved by the AMF under visa No.07-021 on January 18, 2007 comprised of the document de référence filed with the AMF under number D.06-0140 on March 17, 2006 and its update filed with the AMF under number D.06-0140-A01 on January 18, 2007 and the note d'opération, may be obtained free of charge from NicOx S.A. and the financial intermediaries, as well as on the websites of NicOx S.A. (www.nicox.com) and the AMF (www.amf-france.org). A notice was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Légales et Obligatoires dated January 22, 2007. The attention of the public is directed to the "risk factors" section of the prospectus.

This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. NicOx S.A. does not intend to register securities or conduct a public offering in the United States.

No copy of this announcement has been or should be distributed or sent to the United States, Canada, Japan or Australia.

This announcement does not contain or constitute an invitation, inducement or solicitation to invest. This press release is directed only at persons (i) who are outside the United Kingdom, (ii) who are "investment professionals" falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended) (the "Order"), (iii) who are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.") of the Order or (iv) other persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activ

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 12:56

0

Ohhh, en zo wordt het spel dus opnieuw gespeeld. Nog eerst een mooi PB afgelopen vrijdag over een milestone en dan nu een emissie.

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 12:57

0

AstraZeneca invests $100 mln in Boston drugs R&D
LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc is investing $100 million at its drug research centre near Boston, Massachusetts, to strategically boost its work on infectious diseases and to expand its cancer R&D. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker, which is under pressure to improve its product pipeline following a series of late-stage failures, said on Monday the expansion would accommodate up to 100 additional researchers.
The new staff will join more than 400 existing employees at the site.

Most of the extra resources will go into finding new treatments for infections, including novel antibiotics.

Antibiotics have been viewed in the past by many drug companies as a low-growth area and only 10 new antibacterials have been introduced since 1998, of which just two were truly novel.

But the emergence of hospital "superbugs" such as MRSA, which are resistant to existing medicines, has increased the need for alternative treatments.

Construction of the new 132,000 square foot unit at Waltham will begin during the first quarter of 2007 with completion scheduled by mid 2009.

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 13:00

0

quote:
Nx4nX schreef:
Ohhh, en zo wordt het spel dus opnieuw gespeeld. Nog eerst een mooi PB afgelopen vrijdag over een milestone en dan nu een emissie.

Voor de liefhebbers:

NicOx S.A.,
Les Taissounières – Bât HB4 – 1681 route des Dolines - BP313, 06906 Sophia Antipolis cedex, France. Tel. +33 (0)4 97 24 53 00 • Fax +33 (0)4 97
24 53 99
PRESS RELEASE
NicOx receives €5 million milestone payment from
Merck & Co. for antihypertensive collaboration
January 18, 2007. Sophia Antipolis, France. www.nicox.com
NicOx S.A. (Eurolist: COX) today announced it has achieved the first milestone in its agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. in the
antihypertensive field, resulting in a €5 million milestone payment to NicOx. The milestone was linked to the initiation of Good
Laboratory Practice (GLP) toxicology studies on the first development candidate that was recently selected by the two
companies. This milestone represents an important step towards the future initiation of clinical development on this
compound.
Michele Garufi, Chairman and CEO of NicOx, declared: “We are very pleased by the rapid selection of the first development
candidate with Merck and are eager to move this antihypertensive compound into clinical development. The selection and
advancement of this compound is a testament to the excellent joint research conducted by NicOx and Merck and once again
highlights the potential of our nitric oxide-donating technology to generate safe and effective new product candidates for
human health.”
NicOx and Merck have been working together in a major collaboration since March 2006, which is focused on the
development and commercialization of new antihypertensive drugs using NicOx’ proprietary nitric oxide-donating technology
for the treatment of high blood pressure, complications of hypertension and other cardiovascular and related disorders. NicOx
and Merck have selected the first nitric oxide-donating compound as a candidate for development. The companies have now
entered a new stage of the collaboration by initiating Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) compliant toxicology studies (see NOTE
1), which are expected to provide data needed for the submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) procedure with the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (see NOTE 2). Merck is responsible for the funding and performance of the development
of this compound going forward.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck has the exclusive right to develop and commercialize antihypertensive compounds
using NicOx’ proprietary nitric oxide-donating technology for the treatment of systemic hypertension. NicOx has the option to
co-promote products that result from the agreement on a fee-for-detail basis to specialist physicians in the United States and
certain major European countries. In addition, Merck will pay NicOx industry standard royalties on the sales of all products
that result from the agreement. To date NicOx has received €14.2 million from Merck in connection with this agreement,
including the €5 million milestone payment announced today, and stands to receive €274 million in further potential milestone
payments.
NOTE 1: Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) refers to a set of standards and procedures used to guarantee the quality and
integrity of experimental data and results from non-clinical studies conducted in laboratories. The IND-enabling toxicology
studies being conducted by NicOx and Merck represent a standard collection of tests that are used to assess the safety of new
chemical entities in preparation for an IND.
NOTE 2: Filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is
necessary for obtaining approval to conduct clinical trials in humans in the United States. An IND file contains information on
preclinical toxicology and pharmacology studies in animals (collectively known as IND-enabling studies), in addition to details
of the manufacturing of the compound and information prepared for future clinical investigators.
NicOx (Bloomberg: COX:FP, Reuters: NCOX.PA) is a product-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the
development of nitric oxide-donating drugs to meet unmet medical needs. NicOx is targeting the therapeutic areas of pain and
inflammation and cardio-metabolic disease. Resources are focused on two lead compounds, naproxcinod (formerly HCT
3012); in phase 3 development for the treatment of osteoarthritis, and NCX 4016, in phase 2 for type 2 diabetes.
NicOx has strategic partnerships with some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer Inc. and Merck
and Co., Inc.
NicOx S.A. is headquartered in Sophia-Antipolis, France, and is a public company listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris
(segment: Next Economy).
NicOx S.A.,
Les Taissounières – Bât HB4 – 1681 route des Dolines - BP313, 06906 Sophia Antipolis cedex, France. Tel. +33 (0)4 97 24 53 00 • Fax +33 (0)4 97
24 53 99
The elements included in this communication may contain forward-looking statements subject to certain risks and uncertainties.
Actual results of the company may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements because of different
risks factors described in the company's document de reference.
CONTACTS:
NicOx: Karl Hanks • Manager of Corporate Relations and Market Analysis • Tel +33 (0)4 97 24 53 42 •
hanks@nicox.com • www.nicox.com
Investors in the United States - Burns McClellan: Lisa Burns • lburns@burnsmc.com / Laura Siino• lsiino@burnsmc.com •
Tel +1 212 213 0006
Financial Dynamics: Jonathan Birt • Tel +1 212 850 56 34 • jbirt@fd-us.com / Julia Phillips • Tel +44 (0)20 7831 3113 •
julia.phillips@fd.com

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 13:44

0

RTRS-Forse winststijging Pfizer
NEW YORK (ANP) - Het Amerikaanse farmacieconcern Pfizer
heeft in het vierde kwartaal van 2006 een nettowinst geboekt van
9,45 miljard dollar. Dat is bijna vier keer zo veel als in de
laatste periode van 2005. Dat maakte het bedrijf maandag bekend.
Pfizer dankt de winststijging aan de verkoop van de divisie
consumentenproducten aan branchegenoot Johnson & Johnson.

Door dalende verkoopcijfers van het antibioticum Zithromax
en het antidepressivum Zoloft bleef de omzet in het vierde
kwartaal ongeveer gelijk op 12,6 miljard dollar. De winst per
aandeel uit de lopende bedrijfsvoering kwam uit op 0,21 dollar.
Dat was een jaar eerder nog 0,35 dollar.

Over het gehele jaar behaalde 's werelds grootste fabrikant
van geneesmiddelen een nettowinst van 19,3 miljard dollar op een
omzet van 48,4 miljard dollar. In 2005 bedroeg de nettowinst 8,1
miljard dollar en de omzet 47,4 miljard dollar.

((ANP Redactie Economie, email economie(at)anp.nl, +31 20
504 5999))

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 15:12

0

SciGen aims for a share of the multibillion hep B vaccine market
By Susan Gotensparre

22/01/2007 - Biopharmaceutical firm SciGen has invested $30m (€23.2m) in a hepatitis B vaccine manufacturing plant in Israel, expecting to capture up to 15 per cent of the global market during a three year period.

SciGen has announced the official opening of its $20m (€15.5m) vaccine manufacturing facility in Israel, supplying three million doses of the company's third generation hepatitis B vaccine, Sci-B-Vac. The company is boosting their vaccine manufacturing to be able to ensure supply to their European and Asian commercial partners. In addition, a further $10m (€7.7m) has been invested to expand the Israeli facilities.
The world market for hepatitis B is $1.2bn (€0.93bn) - Europe and the Asia Pacific region represent 40 per cent - but is expected to increase due to rising awareness of hepatitis B and increased public health expenditure, according to SciGen. The firm has high expectations of explosive annual sales figures from the third quarter of 2007, followed by an anticipated triple digit growth in 2008.
”We expect to capture 2 per cent of the world market in the first year going to 5 per cent in the second year and 15 per cent in the third,”, Saul Mashaal, chairman and CEO, told In-PharmaTechnologist.com.
The Sci-B-Vac is a rapid-acting and highly immunogenic vaccine that will provide immunity from the first dose.
“Sci-B-Vac, is indeed a unique hepatitis B vaccine which has repeatedly been shown to be highly immunogenic and safe in neonates, babies and adults alike.” said Professor Daniel Shouval, Hebrew University
“While conventional yeast derived vaccines contain only one of the three hepatitis B virus envelope proteins, Sci-B-Vac contains two additional proteins - namely pre-S1and pre-S2 which significantly enhance the immune response against potential encounter with the virus.”
“The first generation was blood plasma vaccine, the second generation was the yeast derived vaccine containing only one of the three epitopes of the Hepatitis B virus. The third generation vaccine is a mammalian cell (CHO) derived vaccine and covers all three epitopes of the hepatitis B Vaccine virus, is highly immunogenic and has a faster onset of action,” said Mashaal.
SciGen has three sites worldwide, out of which the contract manufacturing facility in India has a capacity of 15 million hepatitis B doses. To help fund these latest expansions, SciGen will use cash raised via loans from their major shareholder, Bioton.
According to the World Health Organisation, out of the 2 billion people infected with hepatitis B, about 350m remain chronically infected and become carriers of the disease.
Over 4m acute cases of HBV develop each year, about 25 per cent of which result in death due to chronic hepatitis B or related conditions, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/news/ng...

aossa 22 januari 2007 15:55

0

Pharmaceuticals
Big Pharma's Black Hole
Matthew Herper, 01.22.07, 8:30 AM ET

Big Pharma is heading "off a cliff" and into "a black hole," according to Wall Street.

Analysts are already using such big scary metaphors to describe the challenges facing the drug industry in five years, when drug makers will face the worst series of patent expirations ever.

Between 2010 and 2011, Big Pharma will lose 28% of their current sales, according to pharmaceutical analyst James Kelly of Goldman Sachs--who is calling this period "the patent black hole." Starting in 2008 and going through 2011, Kelly predicts annualized sales growth of only 2% for big drug makers.

Timothy Anderson of Prudential Equity Group says that this generic "cliff" is the largest in the history of pharma. Most of the companies he covers, including Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Eli Lilly, will lose top-sellers between 2010 and 2013. Already, he says, the loss of blockbuster products like Pfizer's Lipitor for high cholesterol, the world's best-selling drug, and Eli Lilly's Zyprexa for schizophrenia, is shaping decision-making at big drug makers.

A case in point: Pfizer, which is expected to announce deep job cuts and cost-cutting measures on Monday when it holds an analyst meeting in New York. The world's largest drug firm's new chief executive, Jeffrey Kindler, has said he wants to "transform" the company and took the unprecedented step of cutting some 2,000 jobs from the drug giant's 10,000-strong U.S. sales force. But that was before torcetrapib, a cholesterol drug that Pfizer had bet on as a Lipitor replacement, failed catastrophically in a big clinical trial.

Monday morning, Pfizer announced that its sales increased 2% in 2006. Earnings increased dramatically partly because of the sale of Pfizer's consumer business to Johnson & Johnson. But so-called operating earnings--those tracked by analysts--dropped in the fourth quarter by 12%, to 43 cents per share. That figure still tops the average forecast of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Further announcements on job cuts are expected later in the day.

In a note to investors last Monday, Barbara Ryan at Deutsche Bank predicted that Kindler will cut 8,000 more jobs from sales, manufacturing, and research and save $2 billion on top of the $4 billion worth of cost cuts he has already announced. That money, she says, could help Pfizer make a big acquisition to make up for the Lipitor loss. According to Anderson's estimates, Pfizer will lose 41% of its sales between 2010 and 2012, more than any drug maker he covers except for much smaller Forest Laboratories.

Both Ryan and Kelly say it is worth betting on Kindler's planned transformation, especially since Pfizer pays a healthy dividend that was hiked by 21% this year. Anderson prefers Schering-Plough, which has less generic exposure, and Novartis, which has actually made a big investment in generics.

The problem for Pfizer and its peers is not just that older drugs are going off patent, but that new ones are not making up the difference. Last year, only 26 medicines or vaccines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration, half as many as in 1996, the year that Lipitor was approved. And although Pfizer launched an innovative stop-smoking pill, Chantix, and a cancer-fighter, Sutent, those medicines are not expected to make up for the losses of big sellers like antidepressant Zoloft and hypertension pill Norvasc, not to mention the $12-billion-a-year Lipitor.

Drug Patent Decimation 2010
According to Prudential Equity Group's Timothy Anderson, these companies face big losses to generics between 2010 and 2012.

Company
Drug Patents Expiring
Total Company Sales Expiring

Forest Laboratories
Namenda, Lexapro
86%

Pfizer
Aricept, Lipitor, Viagra, Detrol, Geodon
41%

AstraZeneca
Arimidex, Seroquel, Symbicort
38%

Bristol-Myers Squibb
Plavix, Avapro, Abilify
30%

GlaxoSmithKline
Advair, Avandia
23%

Eli Lilly
Zyprexa
22%

Merck
Cozaar/Hyzaar, Singulair
22%

Wyeth
Effexor, Protonix
22%

Novartis
Femara, Diovan
14%

Roche
None
None

Schering-Plough
None
None

Source: Prudential Equity Group

"On one side I feel very sorry for the industry, on the other side it is a great opportunity for our generics business," says Daniel Vasella, chief executive of Novartis. Overall, he predicts that the pharma business "will remain a growth industry, the demand remains and demand will accelerate" due to the aging of the population. However, as more people take pills, governments will also do more to ratchet down drug prices. Right now, Congress is debating measures that might reduce the price Medicare pays for drugs, for instance.
On Monday, then, the entire drug industry will be watching to see what Jeff Kindler, the Pfizer chief executive, does. In losing torcetrapib, which he himself had called one of the biggest drug opportunities in years, he is coming off a dramatic failure. It seems certain that now Pfizer has to make plans to defend its turf and increase its earnings power. A few good new drugs wouldn't hurt either. The question at hand: Can drug companies, which have thrived based on the research successes of the mid-1990s, bring forth a new series of blockbuster medicines?

Goldman Sachs analyst Kelly, who coined the "black hole" term, sees a good chance for some drug makers. Aside from Pfizer, he likes Eli Lilly, which is developing a new blood thinner to compete with Plavix, the second-best-selling pill in the world made by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. But he says that data emerging on new medicines over the next two years will be crucial to determining what kind of damage drug makers sustain five years from now--and how many more jobs these embattled giants will have to cut.

--Robert Langreth contributed to this story.

www.forbes.com/2007/01/19/pfizer-phar...

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 15:55

0

quote:
h.vdbilt schreef:
RTRS-Forse winststijging Pfizer
NEW YORK (ANP) - Het Amerikaanse farmacieconcern Pfizer
heeft in het vierde kwartaal van 2006 een nettowinst geboekt van
9,45 miljard dollar. Dat is bijna vier keer zo veel als in de
laatste periode van 2005. Dat maakte het bedrijf maandag bekend.
Pfizer dankt de winststijging aan de verkoop van de divisie
consumentenproducten aan branchegenoot Johnson & Johnson.

Door dalende verkoopcijfers van het antibioticum Zithromax
en het antidepressivum Zoloft bleef de omzet in het vierde
kwartaal ongeveer gelijk op 12,6 miljard dollar. De winst per
aandeel uit de lopende bedrijfsvoering kwam uit op 0,21 dollar.
Dat was een jaar eerder nog 0,35 dollar.

Over het gehele jaar behaalde 's werelds grootste fabrikant
van geneesmiddelen een nettowinst van 19,3 miljard dollar op een
omzet van 48,4 miljard dollar. In 2005 bedroeg de nettowinst 8,1
miljard dollar en de omzet 47,4 miljard dollar.

((ANP Redactie Economie, email economie(at)anp.nl, +31 20
504 5999))

Pfizer struggles amid generic competition

By Daniel Pimlott in New York
Updated: 9:41 a.m. ET Jan. 22, 2007

Pfizer on Monday reported a fall in fourth-quarter earnings, excluding cash from the sale of some brands, as the world's largest drug maker struggled in the face of competition to some of its key products from generic versions.
Net income was $9.45bn, or $1.32 a share, in the fourth quarter, more than tripling from $2.73bn, or 37 cents, in the same period the year before. But the results included a one-off gain from the $16.6bn cash sale of consumer health brands such as Listerine mouthwash and Sudafed allergy drug, to Johnson & Johnson, completed last month.

Excluding the sale and other special items, earnings were down 15 per cent at $3.05bn from $3.59bn last year. Earnings per share were 43 cents, beating analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Financial, of 42 cents, but down from 49 cents a year ago..
Revenue edged up 2 per cent to $12.60bn from $12.55bn. The group is due to update analysts on its strategy later on Monday.
Jeffrey Kindler, chairman and chief executive, said Pfizer had delivered a "solid performance despite challenges" in the quarter, though he admitted that the expiration of patents on several important products had led to sharp drops in sales.
Sales of Zithromax, the antibiotic, plunged 73 per cent to $109m, and sales of Zoloft fell 79 per cent to $166m.
"We continue to face a difficult operating environment, including competitive challenges and the risks inherent in drug development," Mr Kindler continued.
Sales of Lipitor, the anti-cholestorol product which is the world's best selling drug, came in below target for the year in the face of "intense" competition.
Revenues from Pfizer's pharmaceutical business were down 3 per cent in the US, primarily due to generic competition to Zoloft, the company said.
Pfizer said that proceeds from the consumer healthcare sale would be used for investment and to supply a "strong" dividend and an "active" share buyback programme.
For the year, Pfizer earned $19.34bn, or $2.66 a share, up from $8.09bn, or $1.09, in 2005.
Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16751793/

aossa 22 januari 2007 16:01

0

Monday morning, Pfizer announced that its sales increased 2% in 2006. Earnings increased dramatically partly because of the sale of Pfizer's consumer business to Johnson & Johnson. But so-called operating earnings--those tracked by analysts--dropped in the fourth quarter by 12%, to 43 cents per share. That figure still tops the average forecast of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Further announcements on job cuts are expected later in the day.

Excerpt from:
www.forbes.com/2007/01/19/pfizer-phar...

voda 22 januari 2007 16:17

0

En bericht van Betten over Pfizer:
www.iex.nl/nieuws/nieuws_artikel.asp?...

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 16:25

0

Amgen rises on optimism it will win patent case
Mon Jan 22, 2007 9:43am ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - Shares of biotechnology company Amgen Inc. (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile , Research) rose 2.4 percent in premarket trading on Monday amid increased optimism the company will win a long-standing patent battle with Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile , Research) over Amgen's anemia drug Epogen.
Citing court documents filed late on Friday, analysts said it appears that a rival anemia drug made by Roche called Cera, which has the trade name Mircera, was made using the same amino acid sequence and composition as Epogen.
"We think this means Amgen's probability of winning its patent infringement case has increased dramatically," said Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst at Bear Stearns, in a research report.
Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, California, has sued Roche for infringing patents related to Epogen, a bioengineered protein that boosts production of red blood cells. The case is scheduled to go to trial in

Roche has applied for U.S. regulatory approval of Mircera in patients with kidney disease. A decision is expected next month.
Roche has argued that Mircera acts differently at the receptor sites involved in stimulating red blood cell production and lasts longer in the body than Epogen.
"While many investors already believed that the EPO used in Mircera was made through recombinant technology, we would expect the stock to trade up on its confirmation," said Michael Aberman, an analyst at Credit Suisse, though he believes Roche will ultimately prevail in the case because of other technicalities regarding the patent dispute.
Amgen's shares rose 2.3 percent, or $1.67, to $75.92 shortly after Nasdaq trading opened.
today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesti...

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 16:47

0

WHO Executive Board to tackle key global health issues
Agenda includes measles, polio, chronic diseases and pandemic influenza

22 JANUARY 2007 | GENEVA -- The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) opened its twice-yearly session on Monday with a speech from the new Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, highlighting recent public health successes and setting out some of the threats to global health. The 34-member Board will discuss a range of issues including measles, malaria, polio, the prevention and control of chronic diseases, avian and pandemic influenza, and implementation of the International Health Regulations.
In her opening speech, Dr Chan told the Board members, "We begin our discussions in what I believe are optimistic times for health." She outlined what she called the "spectacular success story" of measles. WHO announced last week that global deaths from measles have been reduced by 60 per cent since 2000, exceeding the already ambitious target of a 50% cut.

Dr Chan set out the wider health gains linked to measles immunisation. "The news gets even better. Increasingly, this initiative is delivering a bundle of life-saving and health-promoting interventions: bed nets for malaria, vitamin A to boost the immune system, de-worming tablets that help keep children in school, polio vaccine, and tetanus vaccine for pregnant women."
"I view this initiative as a model of what can be achieved through integrated service delivery," she said. "This is a value-added approach that amplifies the power of public health."
Dr Chan then returned to one of her key themes: the work of the World Health Organization should be judged by the impact it has on the health of women and of people in Africa. "Much of what we are already doing has an impact on women and the African people. This is not surprising. The threats to these two groups are numerous. Many of these threats are receiving high-level attention as we strive to meet the Millennium Development Goals, to which I am fully committed."
Dr Chan addressed another potentially huge gain for children around the world: the eradication of polio. She reported the conclusion of the advisory committee on polio eradication that “it is technically feasible to interrupt polio transmission worldwide." However, she said the world now faces a key question: "Are we now in a position to overcome the operational and financial obstacles? I believe we need to assess the country-level operations very carefully to ensure that we can indeed interrupt transmission globally.”
She told the Board that she will convene an "urgent high-level consultation" from 27 to 28 February: "The expected outcome is a set of milestones that must be met if transmission is to be interrupted in the four remaining endemic countries. The consultation will also consider the funding required to meet these milestones."
Dr Chan also re-emphasized her focus on evidence. "As I have said, what gets measured gets done … If we want to set out a compelling health agenda, we must look not only at the needs we are addressing, but also at the results of our efforts. We must keep track to stay on track."
She went on to address avian influenza and the threat of an influenza pandemic. "The message is straightforward: we must not let down our guard," she said. "The whole world has lived under the imminent threat of an influenza pandemic for more than three years. These years of experience have taught us just how tenacious this H5N1 virus is in birds."
The Board also heard a report from Dr Anders Nordström, acting WHO Director-General until January 3, on the work of the Organization since May. Dr Nordström told the Board that since the death in May of the previous Director-General, Dr LEE Jong-wook, WHO has been “continually focusing on improving the health of people across the world.”
Dr Nordström outlined key areas in which progress has been made since May, including collaboration with other UN agencies and with the World Bank, direct engagement in the G8 summit in July, engaging in and providing leadership in health partnerships, advancing work on chronic, non-communicable diseases and on communicable diseases, including the neglected tropical diseases. Dr Nordström also outlined important developments in the areas of health systems development and the management of WHO. A report to the Executive Board on implementation of the global strategy for the prevention and control of chronic diseases concludes that much has been done but more progress is still needed. The global epidemic of chronic diseases continues. Last year, 35 million people died as a result of chronic diseases, equivalent to 60% of all deaths globally. These deaths are projected to increase by a further 17% over the next decade.
Other issues on the Board's agenda include: tuberculosis; gender, women and health; oral health; health systems; and the rational use of medicines, including better medicines for children. 10.5 million children under the age of five years die every year. Most of these deaths are from treatable conditions. Treatments exist, but some are not available in dosages that are suitable for children; of those that do exist in appropriate dosages, many are not available in low- and middle-income countries.
Also on the agenda at next week's Board meeting are: health promotion; progress reports on public health, innovation and intellectual property; cancer prevention and control; public health problems caused by the harmful use of alcohol and the Commission on Social Determinants of Health.
The Executive Board is comprised of representatives from 34 WHO Member States. The individuals are designated by Member States elected to do so by the World Health Assembly. The main functions of the Executive Board are to give effect to the decisions and policies of the Assembly, to advise it and generally facilitate its work. This session of the Board is scheduled to last from 22-30 January.
www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases...

aossa 22 januari 2007 19:17

0

Pfizer to slash 10% of workforce

By Val Brickates Kennedy, MarketWatch
Last Update: 1:13 PM ET Jan 22, 2007

BOSTON (MarketWatch) - Facing a stagnant top-line due to the loss of market exclusivity on several key products, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. said Monday that it plans to slash about 10% of its workforce by the end of 2008, or roughly 10,000 workers.

www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pfizer...

[verwijderd] 22 januari 2007 19:20

0

22 januari 2007 19:15 uur

Amsterdam (BETTEN BEURSMEDIA NEWS) - Bij Pfizer zullen eind 2008 wereldwijd zo'n 10.000 banen verdwijnen, ofwel 10% van het personeelsbestand. Dit is het gevolg van een grootschalige kostenoperatie. Dit heeft het Amerikaanse farmaceutische bedrijf maandag bekendgemaakt.

Pfizer doet dit om op zowel de middellange als de langetermijn de inkomsten te maximaliseren. Volgens bestuursvoorzitter Jeffrey B. Kindler zijn daarom flinke kostenreducties nodig. Daarvoor in de plaats moet een meer flexibele kostenstructuur komen.

Het ontslag van de medewerkers is onderdeel van het stroomlijnen van de organisatiestructuur. Daarbij zal Pfizer meer gebruik gaan maken van outsourcing van diverse activiteiten bij externe partijen.

De 10.000 banen hebben onder meer betrekking op verkooporganisaties in Amerika. Daarnaast zullen de Europese activiteiten van Pfizer verder worden gestroomlijnd. Hier gaat het om een afname van ongeveer 20% van het personeel.

Om de kostendoelstelling te bereiken zal Pfizer twee extra fabrieken sluiten in Brooklyn en Omaha. Daarnaast wil Pfizer nog een fabriek in Feucht in Duitsland verkopen.

Op het gebied van onderzoek en ontwikkeling wil Pfizer onderzoeksstations sluiten in Amerika, Japan en Frankrijk.

Pfizer verwacht met deze kostenoperatie eind 2008 een daling van de totale kosten voor belasting van tussen de USD 1,5 miljard en USD 2 miljard te realiseren. Het bedrijf zal de middelen die vrijkomen investeren in activiteiten die meer toegevoegde waarde opleveren.

Het aandeel Pfizer noteert op Wall Street rond 19.15 1,8% lager op USD 26,68.

(c) BETTEN BEURSMEDIA NEWS (tel: +31 20 710 1756; fax: +31 20 710 1875)

[verwijderd] 23 januari 2007 09:15

0

Monday, January 22, 2007

NIH Center for Scientific Review to Host Open House Workshops to Improve the Review of NIH Grant Applications
Bethesda, Md. — Starting in March 2007, the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will convene the first of six one-day Open House Workshops in 2007 to solicit input from leaders of the scientific community and other stakeholders. This input will be critical to realigning and reinventing CSR’s application review groups so the $20+ billion NIH invests in biomedical research grants each year advances the most promising research.
“The rapid evolution and expansion of science has made it much more difficult for our peer review groups to keep pace,” says Toni Scarpa, CSR Director. “The broad and expert input expected from the Open Houses will help accelerate needed changes at CSR, which will help NIH better advance medical research and serve the American public and all those suffering or at risk who need new treatments, cures and preventions.”
CSR’s peer review groups have not been assessed broadly by the scientific community since the NIH Panel on Scientific Boundaries for Review (PSBR) released its reorganization plan seven years ago. Convening the Open Houses represents a systematic effort to engage stakeholders from all the many scientific disciplines to ensure their voices are heard and CSR’s review groups are properly aligned and prepared for the future.
Workshop participants also will provide input on other ongoing and proposed initiatives to improve CSR’s peer review process. Comments from each of these workshops will be posted online, and all those interested will be encouraged to submit additional input for consideration.
Scientific leaders of pertinent scientific societies and disease groups are encouraged to attend these one-day workshops, which will also include breakout sessions led by study section chairs. Scientific review administrators will be present as will NIH and CSR leaders and senior staff. Those interested in attending are asked to submit a registration form at least three weeks prior to the workshop. Online registration forms can be found at www.csr.nih.gov/openhouse. While these meetings are open meetings, scientific societies are asked to limit their participation to one or two representatives to facilitate focused and meaningful discussions.
The first Open House Workshop will focus on the alignment of CSR’s neuroscience study sections. It will be held on Friday, March 2, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at NIH’s Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda. Five additional Open House Workshops will be convened every other month during 2007 to assess additional groups of CSR study sections: behavioral and social sciences study sections, disease-based study sections, integrated biological study sections (two workshops), and biomolecular study sections.
Input received from these workshops and the public comment period will be presented to the NIH Peer Review Advisory Committee, which will guide CSR as it works to implement changes and address concerns raised at the open house meetings. This broad-based input will greatly accelerate planned, multiyear efforts to assess CSR’s review groups in accord with the principles established by the NIH Panel on Scientific Boundaries for Review.
Additional information on these workshops as well as registration forms are available via CSR’s Web site: www.csr.nih.gov/openhouse or by contacting the Open House Project Coordinator at openhouse@csr.nih.gov or 301-435-1114.
The Center for Scientific Review organizes the peer review groups that evaluate the majority of grant applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health. CSR recruits about 18,000 outside scientific experts each year for its review groups. CSR also receives all NIH and many Public Health Service grant applications — about 80,000 a year — and assigns them to the appropriate NIH Institutes and Centers and PHS agencies. CSR’s primary goal is to see that NIH applications receive fair, independent, expert, and timely reviews that are free from inappropriate influences so NIH can fund the most promising research. For more information, visit www.csr.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2007/csr-22.htm

AEX 899,24 +9,55 +1,07% 18:05


Germany40^	22.645,20	+1,42%
BEL 20	4.386,42	+2,09%
Europe50^	5.352,84	+0,81%
US30^	41.326,00	-0,27%
Nasd100^	19.552,20	+0,91%
US500^	5.592,87	+0,40%
Japan225^	37.010,00	+1,28%
Gold spot	2.935,18	+0,62%
EUR/USD	1,0890	-0,24%
WTI	67,65	+1,64%

BESI	+8,88%
Avantium	+7,92%
HEIJMANS KON	+7,14%
BAM	+4,70%
ASMI	+4,69%

Basic-Fit	-20,51%
Air France-KLM	-3,47%
AMG Critical ...	-2,85%
AZERION	-2,62%
Alfen N.V.	-2,40%

Crucell « Terug naar discussie overzicht

Draadje OT, bijzaken & geleuter in de marge! - Deel 2

Meedoen aan de discussie?

Direct naar Forum

Markt vandaag

Aandelenadviezen van IEX.nl

Stijgers

Dalers