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Yesterday, Sanofi-aventis (S-A) agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Indian vaccine maker, Shantha Biotechnics, for an undisclosed amount. And, recently, Abbott announced a definitive agreement to acquire the nutrition businesses of Wockhardt Limited, Carol Info Services Limited, and certain Wockhardt subsidiaries and group companies for consideration totaling approximately US$130 million in cash.

While these two recent acquisitions don’t appear to be particularly noteworthy, they speak volumes about growing Indian influence in biologics and, perhaps more importantly, in biosimilars. India, long known for its expertise in generic drug development and its ability to work with US-based companies, has expanded beyond generic pharmaceuticals into generic biologics aka biosimilars. Biosimilars have been on the Indian market for over a decade and by all accounts several Indian companies, most notably BioCon, might be able to steal biosimilar market share in Asia from the likes of Sandoz, Merck and Teva—companies expected to be major players in the emerging biosimilar market.

Both Shantha and Wockhardt possess substantial experience in biosimilar development and commercialization. To that end, Sanofi-aventis has publicly announced its desire to get into biotechnology and Abbot must expand its biotechnology pipeline beyond Humira to remain competitive. These acquisitions likely represent Sanofi’s and Abbott’s attempt to gain a foothold in the emerging Asian markets. Also, it gives both companies access to lower cost biologics R&D and manufacturing capabilities.

It will be interesting to see how things unfold over the next year or so!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

 

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The Eye on FDA blog reported today that AstraZeneca and Sanofi-Aventis have joined the ranks of Abbott, GSK, J&J and SanofiPasteur on YouTube. Pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of the power of YouTube and other social media sites because regulatory guidance hasn’t been issued on its use to promote products or brand awareness. In other words, this is uncharted territory and companies can essentially 'test the waters' to see how far regulatory agencies will let them go.  I suspect that early life sciences company adopters of social media will garner substantial ROI before regulatory guidance is issued.

A lack of regulatory oversight, the ability to manage and control content and the low costs associated with creating Internet videos make YouTube and other social media sites attractive to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The life sciences sector is just beginning to recognize the power of social media and the role that it may play in promoting products and brand awareness to consumers.  Expect many more life sciences companies to experiment with social media in the near future--its a veritable goldmine!

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Video Watching!!!!!!! 

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Pfizer said on Tuesday it will eliminate another 40 workers from factories in Puerto Rico. Pfizer closed a plant in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in 2005 and last year announced 210 layoffs in the U.S. Caribbean island territory

As pointed out by Ed Silverman over at Pharmalot, Puerto Rico has long been a manufacturing hub for US pharmaceutical companies. Over the past 30 years, pharmaceutical manufacturing has accounted for a quarter of the island’s gross domestic product and currently employs about 20,000 Puerto Rican citizens.

Over the past few years, companies like Watson Pharmaceuticals (generics), GlaxoSmithKline, Teva (generics), Bristol Myers Squibb and Schering Plough have either closed or will close manufacturing facilities on the Island. These closings were somewhat surprising because the Puerto Rican workforce is one of the best pharmaceutical manufacturing workforces in the world. That said, US pharmaceutical companies are looking elsewhere to produce their drugs because of rising wages, changing tax structures and the high cost of electricity (supplied by oil-fired power plants) on the island. Further, over the past decade, there have been ongoing compliance and quality assurance problems at many of the shuttered manufacturing facilities. Officials from these companies explained that it was less costly to shut down and move operations elsewhere rather than modernize the plants and bring them into regulatory compliance.

Despite these recent facility closings, the island’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry still produces 13 of 20 best selling drugs in the US. However that number will likely continue to dwindle over the next few years. Many companies that have closed or are considering closing production facilities are moving operations to Asian destinations like Singapore, China, Thailand (and even Vietnam) where there are trained workforces, lower wages and cost structures and many people speak English.

Unlike most pharmaceutical companies, Amgen, Abbot and Lilly recently built or relocated biomanufacturing operations to Puerto Rico. Because of a trained workforce and Puerto Rico’s ongoing familiarity with FDA regulatory requirements, I suspect that other biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies will consider establishing biomanufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico– pharma’s loss may well be biotech’s gain!!!!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!

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