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Last week, US unemployment dipped to 8.6%, it lowest level since 2008. Stock markets rose and everyone was buoyed by a possible economic recovery. What a difference one week can make. Today, Astra Zeneca announced that it will layoff 1,150 sales reps; a few short weeks after announcing plans to eliminate 400 jobs at is US headquarters in Wilmington, DE. The company currently employs about 61,000 workers worldwide, including 14, 000 in North America.

According to the president of Astra Zeneca US, today’s announcement is part of the larger layoff of 10, 400 employees announced back in 2010. These layoffs are largely the result of loss of patent protection for several of Astra Zeneca’s largest selling drugs including Crestor (cholesterol), Nexium (acid reflux) and Sereoquel (anti-pyschotic).  Today’s announcement brings the total of US pharmaceutical employees who lost their jobs this year to about 20,000 according to a post on the Pharmalot blog.

Tis the season, after all!

Until next time...

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

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Over the past week or so there have been daily snippets on various media platforms about business deals and opportunities in the Indian and Chinese life sciences market. While it is not news that many life sciences companies are expanding operations into these markets, the growing frequency of news items about the “goings on” in both markets are noteworthy.

The first bit of news that started the Indian and Chinese life sciences news avalanche, was a note on May 29 that appeared on The Economic Times’ website that reported that New Delhi-based JB Chemical and Pharmaceuticals planned to double the size of its medical sales reps to 1,500 over the next two years to increase its penetration into rural Indian markets. The company had previously divested it over-the-counter consumer business in Russia and other Commonwealth Independent States (CIS; composed of countries from the former Soviet Union) to start up new divisions in gynecology and dental products.

The same day, another New Delhi-based drugmaker called Lupin that specializes in generic drugs, announced that it plans to launch 50 new products by FY12; twelve of which will be generic drugs launched in the US. Both bits of information suggest that new previously untapped commercial opportunities are rapidly beginning to emerge in India and that Indian drug makers are looking to compete in the US and Western European markets that were previously dominated by American, Western European and Japanese companies.

In other India-related pharmaceutical news, an article appeared on June 2 at the Online Pharma Times website that reported that Shlomo Yanai, CEO of the Israeli generic pharmaceutical giant Teva, had flown to India to discuss potential collaborations with pharmaceutical companies there. While most analysts do not think that an acquisition is likely—Teva agreed to buy US-based Cephalon in May for $6.8 billion and also paid $460 million to acquire a controlling stake in Japanese generics group Taiyo Pharmaceuticals—it signals a growing interest by foreign companies to do deals in India to establish a presence it that market.

Like the Indian market, the Chinese market is beginning to heat up. An article at Bloomberg.com published on June 1 reported that Novo Nordisk will boosts its investment in China to preserve its dominance in the diabetes market after rival Sanofi announced a new foray into the Chinese market.

According to a report issued last fall by the International Market Analysis Research and Consulting Group, the Chinese diabetes market is expected to grow from $642 million in 2009 to more that $2.8 billion in 2015. The reason for the increase is attributed to the trend of more people moving from rural areas to cities and changes in eating habits and lifestyles that are contributing to a growing Chinese obesity problem. At present the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta estimates that roughly 8.3 percent of the U.S. population and 6.6 percent of the global population has diabetes

Novo first entered the Chinese market about 15 years ago and in 2002 created a diabetes research center and in 2007, in association with the Chinese Academy of Sciences established a foundation to fight diabetes. This year, the company plans on expanding its insulin packaging plant in China becoming the world’s largest insulin packaging facility.

Likewise, in 2005 Sanofi created a diabetes clinic. Three years later is expanded the clinics operations, established a clinical trial center and entered into a partnership with the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences to develop treatments for diabetes, cancer and neurological diseases.

On Jun 3, Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker (for now) announced that it plans to partner in a joint venture with China’s Zhejian Hisun Pharmaceutical Company to produce generic drugs for the emerging Chinese market. According to the post on Bloomberg.com

“Pfizer is looking for new sources of revenue before it loses U.S. patent protection in November for Lipitor, the cholesterol medication that was the world’s best-selling drug last year with $10.7 billion in sales. Off-patent medicines, including branded generics, are one of the fastest growing segments in the global pharmaceutical market, Pfizer and Hisun said in a joint press release.”

At present, Pfizer is the top drug company in China (by sales) followed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi according to information supplied by the prescription drug intelligence firm IMS. The size of the Chinese drug market is project to grow by 25 percent this year and rough 60% of the existing market is dominated by generic drugs.

Finally, Chinese pharmaceutical companies are also beginning to invest in the US market. Late last week, the Tianjin Tasly Pharmaceutical Group signed an agreement with the State of Maryland to invest $40 million to build a tradition Chinese medicine (TCM) facility to provide TCM training and information. According to a press release:

“Tasly Pharmaceutical is currently preparing materials for approval by America’s Food and Drug Administration and plans to sell compound danshen drip pills in US and European markets. The medicine’s primary ingredient is obtained from the salvia miltiorrhiza species and is used to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Danshen is also known colloquially as red sage or Chinese sage.”

I think it is time to pay more attentions to the ebb and flow of the Indian and Chinese markets!

Until next time,

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (try India and China)!!!!!!

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Big pharma continues to lament the increased scrutiny being imposed on it by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Like it or not, the agency’s directive is to insure that the drugs that it approves are safe and effective for the American public. And, for the most part, the agency does its job and frequently catches companies that attempt to break the rules.

To that end, an article that appeared in FiercePharma last October noted that eleven big pharma companies had paid a total of over $6.0 billion in fines to the US government over the last two years or so. The biggest losers include Eli Lilly paid over $1.4 billion in fines because of alleged illegal marketing of its anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa and Pfizer which paid $2.3 billion for marketing missteps with three drugs including Bextra (pain), Geodon (schizophrenia) , Lyrica (neuropathic pain) and Zyvox (antibiotic). 

More recently, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $750 million fine in a whistle blower lawsuit that alleged that the company had sold "adulterated products" manufactured in a Cidra Puerto Rico production facility. Also, the company announced last February that it intends to pay $3.4 billion to settle lawsuits alleging the improper promotion and sale of several of its products including the blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia and Paxil (depression).

The article also included a timeline of some of the other major settlements that have recently taken place (seen below)

Novartis
With: U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
When: Sept. 30, 2010
Infraction: Novartis agreed to a $422.5 million settlement with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for its off-label promotion of Trileptal and other allegations against Diovan, Exforge, Sandostatin, Tekturna and Zelnorm.

Forest Labs
With: Dept. of Justice
When: Sept. 15, 2010
Infraction: After marketing Levothroid, an unapproved thyroid drug, Forest Labs received its penalty, to the tune of $313 million. The settlement also covered Forest's off-label use of Celexa for children's use.

Allergan
With: Dept. of Justice
When: Sept. 1, 2010
Infractions: Allergan's $600 million Department of Justice settlement was broken into two parts: $375 million in fines and $225 million in civil penalties, all of which stemmed from its off-label use of Botox for headaches, pain management and cerebral palsy.

Elan
With: U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts
When: July 15, 2010
Infraction: The Irish drugmakers received its $203.5 million fine for its marketing tactics of Zonegran, an epilepsy drug. Also, the company's U.S. branch pled guilty to a misdemeanor and the company will enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the HHS Inspector General.

Johnson & Johnson
With: Department of Justice
When: April 29, 2010
Infraction: Though J&J's more infamous woes stem from its phantom recalls, two of the troubled drug maker’s subsidiaries received a $81 million penalty for off-label promotions of Topamax, an epilepsy drug.

AstraZeneca
With: U.S. Attorney's office in Philadelphia
When: April 27, 2010
Infraction: In the same week as the J&J settlement, AstraZeneca was hit with a $520 million penalty for its antipsychotic, Seroquel. The company misled doctors and patients about the drug's safety.

Despite concerted efforts by the US Food and Drug Agency to limit off-label promotion of prescription drugs, most pharma companies continue to see how far they can push the envelope before the agency catches up with them. Given the current budget woes facing FDA, don’t be surprised if the frequency of off label promotion and misrepresentation of prescriptions drugs continue to rise.

Until next time...

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

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Most major pharmaceutical companies left Brazil about 30 years ago. However, much has changed in the country over the past 30 years and most western pharmaceutical companies are rushing back into Brazil to expand their operations and make acquisitions. At the same time, many Brazilian drug makers are beginning to consolidate and spread abroad.

The exodus of multinational drug companies in the 1980s was prompted by high inflation, tough government-mandated price controls and the lack of strong intellectual property and patent laws. Over the past 20 years Brazil has become a leader in agricultural technologies and made substantial investments into biotechnology. Along with these gains, patent rules and regulatory rules for pharmaceuticals and generics have become much stricter; making Brazil much more attractive to most major pharmaceutical manufacturers as growth of established markets continues to slow and need to increase sales in developing markets is critical. At present, Brazil is the eight largest eighth-largest drug markets in the world by sales. Much of this growth has been spurred by the rapid growth of the middle class (remarkably without reimbursement from state or private health insurance).

Some of the drug makers that have already invested in Brazil include Novo Nordisk, Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer and Astra Zeneca. Novo Nordisk was an early entrant with its purchase in 2001 of Biobrás, a large insulin production plant outside São Paulo. Last year, Sanofi-Aventis acquired Medley, growing its portfolio of over-the-counter and branded products to complement its own offerings. Last month, Pfizer bought 40 per cent of Teuto, another generics business; other US, European and Japanese companies are continuing to study the Brazilian market closely.

While many western companies have gained a foothold in Brazil through M &A activity, others are attempting to develop their own internal presence.  Astra Zeneca, for example, is preparing for a launch of a series of both branded and generic products in the country.

In addition to the growing interest of multinational companies, some of Brazil’s domestic drug makers have been active. For example, Aché, a family-owned group and one of Brazil’s largest branded generics producers, has made smaller domestic acquisitions, and was considering buying Medley. The company has also begun forging alliances across Latin America, while its rival Eurofarma earlier this year bought Laboratorios Gautier in Uruguay, as the groups seek economies of scale in manufacturing and sales across the region. Even Farmaguinhos, the state-owned Brazilian drug company, has been collaborating with the African nation Mozambique.

Although the Brazilian government has made sizeable investments into research units such as the Butantan Institute in São Paulo and Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian drug industry is still in its infancy. The question is whether or not domestic drug makers will be able to meet demand before they are acquired by foreign companies interested in making inroads into Brazil’s burgeon drug market.

Until next time….

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

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The Advanced Learning Institute will be hosting a conference entitle Social Media for Pharma on May 24 & 25, 2010 at the Hyatt Hotel in Princeton, NJ. Presenters include representatives from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, NovoNordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, Lundbeck, Porter Novelli, the National Organization for Rare Diseases and many others. 

Topics to be covered include:

• Developing a social media strategy that works for your organization
• Update on regulatory guidance for social media
• Managing on going regulatory challenges for social media
• Building a business case and demonstrating ROI for social media platforms
• Creating a stronger sense of community and brand recognition using social media
• Monitoring customer feedback and satisfaction
• Determine the right mix of social media for your organization
• Latest innovations in social media
• Using twitter to turn your employees into stakeholders into brand ambassadors

and much more!

An agenda for the meeting can be found here. Mention BioJobBlog or BioCrowd and get $200 off the registration fee. For more information please contact melissa@aliconferences.com

I hope to see you at the meeting…it ought to be a good one!!!!!!!!!!

Until next time..

Good Luck and Good Tweeting, Blogging, Podcasting etc etc!!!!!

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AstraZeneca today announced that its Chief Executive David Brennan will receive no increase to his base salary this year, as the drug maker continues a freeze for top executives imposed last year due to weak economic conditions.

Brennan's 2010 salary will remain at $1.4 million, the same level since 2008. However, Brennan’s overall compensation has been on the rise for the past few years. His total remuneration, which includes bonus, shares and other items, rose 5% to $4.9 million for 2009, versus $4.7 million for 2008, according to documents recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AstraZeneca said the base-salary freeze for 2010 also applies to other senior executives whose responsibilities are unchanged. 

While it is laudable that the company is freezing the base salary of its executives, most of their annual compensation is derived from bonuses, stock grants and options and other perks and benefits. I am certain that the hundreds of thousands of pharmaceutical employees who lost their jobs over the past three years can sleep better at night knowing that pharmaceutical executives are finally feeling the pain and sharing the pain of a down economy.

Hat tip to Ed at Pharmalot!

Until next time…

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

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Astra Zeneca announced today that it has agreed to market 18 of Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s branded generic drugs in 9 emerging markets, marking the U.K. drugmaker’s first generic-drug partnership.

Unlike some its competitors, Astra Zeneca is very vulnerable to generic competition as many of its best selling products such as Nexium for ulcers, the antipsychotic Seroquel and Crestor for cholesterol. are near patent expiry. Industry analysts expect the company to lose as much as 25% of its sales revenue to generic encroachment by 2014.

The company joins a growing list of big pharma companies including Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline that view generics as a viable replacement for revenues lost to generic competition for it top selling brands.

Last year, GlaxoSmithKline entered into joint ventures with the generic manufacturers Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (India) and Aspen Pharmacare Ltd (South Africa). Also, the company paid $246.5 million for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Pakistan and Egypt drug units and acquired UCB’s drug portfolio in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America for $702 million; clearing signaling its intention to more aggressively pursue emerging global markets.

Likewise, Sanofi-Aventis bought Zentiva NV of the Czech Republic, Helvepharm AG of Switzerland, Medley SA of Brazil and Laboratorios Kendrick SA of Mexico to bolster its branded generics portfolio. The company also took control of the Indian vaccine and biologics manufacturer Shantha Biotechnics which suggest that Sanofi may be looking to biotech in the future.

Finally, Pfizer continues its pursuit of the financially-troubled German, generics giant Ratiopharm. Actavis of Iceland and the Israeli generics manufacturer Teva have also put in bids to purchase Ratiopharm. However, there are signs that Ratiopharm's board would prefer to be purchased by Pfizer rather than Teva or Actavis.

Look for other big pharma companies to enter into deals with or purchase branded or conventional generics manufacturers.

Until next time...

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

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Ed Silverman, who runs the Pharmalot blog,reported today that AstraZeneca provided more details about its plan to layoff 8,000 employees or 12% of its workforce by 2014. 

According to the post, the company will R&D programs in thrombosis; acid reflux; ovarian and bladder cancers; systemic scleroderma; schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety; hepatitis C and vaccines (other than respiratory syncytial virus and influenza).

The company will shutter research facilities throughout the UK and Sweden and shed about 3,500 R&D jobs. About 550 jobs will be eliminated at AstraZeneca’s US headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware; adding to the massive numbers of unemployed pharmaceutical workers in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware region. The company is also looking for a buyer for its Arrow Therapeutics business.

AstraZeneca joins a growing number of big pharma companies that are jettisoning internal R& D programs in favor of licensing and merger and acquisition deals to sure up drug discovery pipelines. The lack of innovation in small molecule drug discovery and the loss in 2011 of patent protection for some of the industry’s largest blockbuster drug franchises is forcing big pharma companies to eliminate or outsource most of their R&D functions and capabilities to cut costs.  

I wish I could say that things will get better. But, the shift in the business model that has guided big pharma for close to 100 years is likely to be a permanent one. Now is the time to begin to consider alternative career paths!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (“Go West young man/man!”)

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The old baseball adage which says that  “you can’t tell the players apart without a program” is particularly apt when it comes to tracing the M &A activity that led to the creation of some today's largest pharmaceutical companies.

I used to be able to keep track of all of the moving parts  of most of these mergers but advancing age and unprecedented M&A activity in the pharma industry prevents me from successfully doing this any longer. To that end, about a week ago, the New York Times published a pretty cool and informative chart that historically traces the corporate mergers that lead to creation of Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis and others.

Check it out!!!!!

Until next time...

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

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Twitter, the microblogging platform, is the current rage in social media. According to @Shwen, who writes the Med 2.0 Blog, it grew by 752% in 2008. Shwen is a social media enthusiast who is trying to convince the life sciences industry that Twitter and other social networks can be leveraged to improve drug development and deliver healthcare.

According to a recent post on Med. 2.0, there are currently three pharmaceutical companies that are actively using Twitter: Novartis (@novartis), Boehringer Ingelheim (@Boehringer) and Astra Zeneca (AstraZenecaUS). Also, it appears that Johnson and Johnson (@JNJcomm) launched an account last week. Tweets from @novartis and @Boehringer occur fairly regularly whereas AstraZenecaUS tweets are rare. Unlike YouTube, where pharmaceutical sponsors who create channels can regulate and control content, it is much more difficult to manage Twitter because tweets are in real time, uncensored (for the most part) and can be globally disseminated within seconds.

Despite these issues, Med 2.0’s Shwen muses “I can only imagine that more pharma companies are going to be jumping on board the Twitter-train sooner rather than later. How they use it to engage, on the other hand, is going to vary greatly from company to company. At the very least, I see companies setting up accounts as “listening posts”, but others may choose to engage, like @boehringer does in an informal manner. Whatever the case, Twitter is fast becoming the new dominant space for listening and/or engaging the life sciences community.”

Like Shwen, I believe that it a matter of time before pharma and biotech realize that they must embrace social media (in all of its various forms) to remain competitive in today’s increasingly interconnected marketplace.

For those of you who may be interested, you can follow BioJobBlog (@Biojobblog) and Biocrowd (@Biocrowd) on Twitter too!

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Twittering

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Talk about a rough week. First, on Monday, Pfizer announced that it was acquiring Wyeth, a move that is expected to result in the loss of 8,000 to 10,000 jobs if the deal is approved. This was followed on Wednesday by an announcement from Abbott Laboratories indicating hat it was laying off about 200 sales representatives because of regulatory delays for its12 hour-formulation of its pain drug Vicodin. Finally, on Thursday, AstraZeneca announced that it will cut another 7,400 jobs worldwide by 2013 (bringing the total number of expected layoffs to 15,000). Also on Thursday, Sepracor, the maker of the sleeping pill Lunesta, announced that it will cut 20% of its permanent work force (530 jobs) and 410 contract sales representatives (even though the company announced a profit).

Suffice it to say it has been a tough week for pharmaceutical company employees. I hope that next week is better.

Until next time…

Good Luck and errrrrr Good Job Hunting????????

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Astra Zeneca announced today that it would cut 1400 jobs and close several manufacturing facilities worldwide. According to a post on the Pharmalot blog “about 600 full-time jobs will be lost in Sweden as packaging operations are expanded in Wuxi, China. The cuts will come on top of the 7,600 positions the drugmaker plans to eliminate by 2010. The plant closings will occur in Spain, Belgium and Sweden by 2013. Manufacturing jobs will also be trimmed in Sweden and the UK as production is shifted to lower-cost countries in emerging markets.”

On Tuesday Wyeth disclosed that it was eliminating 70 positions at its Pearl River, New York, facility (which employs 3,200 workers, 118 employees at its Rouses Point facility in upstate New York that employs 725 people work, and 124 jobs at its Sanford, North Carolina manufacturing facility. Ironically, as more and more US workers are laid off, many big pharma companies like Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline are expanding operations at their research facilities in India. In fact, Merck is doubling its headcount from 800 to 1,600 employees at its research facility in India that was opened a little over a year ago.

Until next time…

Good Luck and Keep on Looking!!!!

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Despite a recent report heralding the ascendancy of the Welsh biotechnology industry, the majority of biotech companies in Britain are in danger of fading away according to a report in London's  Financial Times. According to the Times; “Over the past year the sector has witnessed a string of high-profile drug failures, share prices have plunged and there have been almost no public listings. The sector is shrinking as private biotech companies are bought by cash-rich pharmaceutical companies, most of which are based abroad”.

“The quality of British science has never been in question. Commercial biotech’s perennial problem, say the pundits, is instead a lack of financing, management expertise and commercial savvy. “The UK has always labored under the yoke of not having enough venture capital around and not having the people prepared to take risks” said one analyst.” Nevertheless, the UK is currently  responsible for more than one-third of the European Union’s total drug pipeline.

The British biotechnology industry isn’t alone. Consolidation of the US biotechnology industry has been quietly going on for the past 5-10 years. Many successful American companies have been acquired by major pharmaceutical companies. For example, MedImmune and Millennium Pharmaceuticals were recently purchased by Astra Zeneca and Takeda Pharmaceuticals respectively. That said, I don’t think that what is happening in the UK is unique to the British biotech industry. The bottom line is this; Biotech is a capital-intensive, briskly paced, risky business that is, at most, 35 years old. More companies than not are expected to fail. Pharma, on the other hand, is a conservative and experienced cash-rich industry that is over 100 years old. Therefore, it follows that pharma companies, when possible, will buy successful biotech companies to bolster their thinning pipelines to stabilize their stock prices.

In my opinion, the seminal underpinning and essence of the biotech industry is to harness scientific originality to create innovative l technologies and products. That said, I believe that the biotechnology industry has finally become an integral part of the life sciences ecological food chain (think of biotech as a producer and pharma as a consumer).  I can’t think of many biotechnologies company executives (with the exception of Biogen) that wouldn’t consider acquisition or merger with a major pharmaceutical company as an ideal exit strategy for their stakeholders!

Until next time….

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

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Cambridge, MA-based Alkermes announced today that it is restructuring its operations following the termination by Eli Lilly and Company of its inhalable AIR Insulin program (Alkermes manufactured the inhaler delivery device). The company is reducing its workforce by approximately 150 employees and closing its AIR commercial manufacturing facility in Chelsea, MA. The company is taking these actions based on its current expectations of the financial impact of Lilly's termination of the AIR Insulin program.

The job cuts, effective this week, represent almost 18% of Alkermes’ total workforce. Employees affected by the restructuring will be eligible for a severance package that includes severance pay, continuation of benefits and outplacement services. The company expects cost savings from the restructuring in the range of $15 million to $20 million in fiscal 2009.

In other news from across the pond, the trade group, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), reported today that the UK pharmaceutical industry lost about 8.000 pharmaceutical jobs or about 10% of its workforce over the past three years. The ABPI asserts that there is a direct link between job cuts and changes to the British government’s pricing mechanisms for medicines. A spokesperson for the group said “Every time a new PPRS (Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme) comes into force there is a decline in the number of jobs”. Not surprisingly, the group is urging the government to not make any changes in the PPRS.

The UK pharmaceutical workforce has taken a number of big hits of late– Pfizer recently closed a manufacturing plant in Kent, while British drug makers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline both announced substantial global job cuts many of which were located in Britain.

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!

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Astra Zeneca and Sanofi-Aventis announced job cuts today that will take place in the UK and Germany.

AstraZeneca says it plans to cut more than 300 jobs at its research and development hub at Alderley Park near Wilmslow England, 60 more than unions had feared.

The company, one of the biggest employers in Cheshire, said last week that it was examining its global R&D structure, prompting trade unions to claim that 244 jobs were likely to go at Alderley Park - its largest site for research - which employs more than 3,500. The majority of those affected at Alderley Park work on R&D into respiratory conditions, while there will be a smaller number of job losses from the cardio-vascular team.

Sanofi Aventis plans to eliminate 380 sales and marketing jobs in Germany, one-fifth of the total, because of difficult market conditions, a company spokesperson said. Sanofi Aventis currently employs 1,900 sales and marketing personnel in Germany. The company has 10,000 employees in the country.

The cuts will be made through a voluntary departure plan and retirements, the spokesperson said, citing difficulties in obtaining reimbursements, competition from generic drugs, and falling prices as reasons for the cuts.

The spokesman declined to comment on German press reports which said Sanofi Aventis's sales in Germany fell 8 per cent last year.

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Despite putting itself up for sale and finding no buyers, Carl Icahn still believes that Biogen is an attractive buyout opportunity for some unsuspecting pharma company. In fact, it was Carl who forced Biogen to put itself up for sale last fall (to avert a nasty proxy fight that he threatened). Carl, who owns 4.2 % of the company, believed that Biogen was underperforming and its stock price was too low.

To make his ongoing dream a reality, Mr. Icahn moved today to appoint three members (loyal to him) to the Biogen board. In an SEC filing, Mr. Ichan said that at Biogen's upcoming shareholder meeting he will nominate three people to Biogen's board (which elects four directors each year), and seek to cap the board's size at 12. If successful, Mr. Icahn would then be “within striking distance” to control a majority of Biogen's board by next year.

The three people that Icahn nominated were Alexander Denner, managing director of the Icahn investment vehicle Icahn Partners; Richard Mulligan, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and Dr. Anne Young, head of the neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Interestingly, Dr. Mulligan and Mr. Denner also serve on the board of ImClone Systems, which elected Icahn chairman last year, after a bitter battle during which Icahn accused the ImClone management of improperly developing its cancer drug Erbitux.

Carl has taken a fancy to biotech in recent years and now considers himself to be somewhat of maven.  Although there a molecular biology building at Princeton University which bears his name (he is an alumnus), he is still a corporate raider at heart. After moving into MedImmune stock in early 2007, Icahn threatened a proxy contest at the annual meeting if it did not find a buyer. Several days later, AstraZeneca said it would buy MedImmune for a whopping $15.6 billion. Carl usually gets what he sets out to do.

It appears that Biogen has not heard the last from Mr. Icahn. I suspect that things will continue to get ugly in Cambridge. Stayed tuned for updates!

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (not at Biogen)!!!!!

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The New York times reported today

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