Bio Job Blog : Bio Jobs : Biotechnology Jobs : Biopharmaceutical Jobs : Bioscience, Biotech Jobs : Bio Job Blog : Biocareer : Bio-Business Training, Biotechnology Training : Jobs in Biology : Internships in Biology : Internships in Biotechnology

Abbott Laboratories yesterday announced that it will buy Facet Biotech Corp. for about $450 million in cash. Facet, along with its development partner Biogen Idec, had planned on moving a potential monoclonal antibody (MAb) treatment for multiple sclerosis called daclizumab into late stage clinical development in the second quarter of this year. The company is also developing several different cancer treatments with other pharmaceutical partners.

Abbott’s purchase of Facet signals Abbott Laboratories’ ongoing commitment to biotechnology or protein-based drugs. The company launched Humira (a fully human MAb treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases) several years ago and it has managed to glean market share from older competitor’s products including Remicade (Johnson & Johnson) and Enbrel (Amgen/Pfizer) to become a blockbuster drug. MAbs are viewed by many as the “drugs of the future.” At present, there are over 350 MAb-based products in various stages of discovery and clinical development.

Earlier in the year, Biogen Idec offered to purchase Facet for $17.50 per share. Company executives and shareholders rejected the offer citing that they thought it was too low. Abbott offered $27 per share which represented a 67 percent premium to Facet’s closing stock price of $16.21 on Tuesday.  Both companies’ boards of directors have already approved the deal which is expected to close some time in the second quarter. It is not clear how the purchase will affect Facet employees but expect to see layoffs and a mass exodus by company executives.

Look for more cash purchases of biotech firms by pharmaceutical companies as debt continues to accrue and venture money remains scarce and difficult to come by.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Today's New York Times reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters and ordered 14 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to stop running what it calls misleading ads on internet search pages displayed by search engines like Google. The agency faulted the companies for failing to identify product names (brand) and not listing potential side effects (only benefits) for the drugs. In other words, the ads lacked “fair balance” something that FDA stresses and that all drug makers are very familiar with. 

Drug makers and other interest groups pay search engines like Google to place ads on search result pages after someone types in a related search word. The sidebar ads typically contain a eye-catching headline about a relevant medical condition or product and links to websites promoting certain products. The companies receiving warning letters included: Bayer, Biogen Idec, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cephalon, Eli Lilly, Forrest Laboratories, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson and Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi-Aventis. Not surprisingly, most of the world’s largest and most profitable were guilty of running misleading Internet search engine ads.

Historically, drug companies and FDA have engaged in a cat and mouse approach when it comes to advertising and marketing drug and medical devices and diagnostics. This is because FDA’s existing regulations that guide marketing and advertising practices are relatively lax and it provides drug makers with the opportunity to see how far they can push the agency before “they get caught.” While this practice may have been acceptable for print and television advertising, it may no longer be appropriate for Internet advertising— which potentially has a much broader and larger reach than traditional media because there are not national borders on the Web. Unfortunately, FDA has been slow (reluctant?) to react to digital media and is even more perplexed about social media and the drug industry. Rather than continue to play cat and mouse, I think it would be in the best interest of consumers if FDA and drug makers would sit down and craft new guidance on regulating Internet advertising and marketing practices. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the old rules are no longer sufficient as digital and social media continue to evolve.

Until next time....

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

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Chalk up one for the good guys (good is a relative term). Carl Icahn has given up on his quest to gain control of the Cambridge-based biotechnology giant, Biogen/IDEC. Actually, he was forced to give up because the slate of board members that he hoped would be elected to the Biogen/IDEC board failed to gain shareholder support and lost its bid for the board at a recent shareholder meeting.

Icahn, who owns about 4% of outstanding shares of the company, wanted to gain control of the Biogen/IDEC board so that he could force the company to try once again to sell itself to a large pharmaceutical company (rather than remain independent). As you may recall, the company tried to sell itself late last year but failed to find any buyers. Icahn accused the company of not trying hard enough! Give it a break Carl…its not always about you!

Despite the fact that Carl has his name on a molecular biology building at Princeton University (he is an alumnus), he knows very little about the biotechnology business. My advice to him is to raid companies that make commodities that he knows something about—widgets, plastics, automobiles — maybe even oil.

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (try Biogen/IDEC)!!!!!!!!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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)!!!!!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that after weeks of exploring a possible sale to a larger pharmaceutical concern, Biogen Idec Inc. reported it had received no serious offers, prompting a 27% drop in the company's stock price.

In after-hours trading, Biogen's stock plunged $20.38 to $55.50, erasing $6 billion in market value. Before the announcement, the shares ended regular trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market at $75.88, up 49 cents according to the journal. Within a few minutes of the announcement, Biogen lost nine months of gains fueled mainly by buyout rumors. Acquisition candidates may have been dissuaded by Biogen's high stock price and market valuation -- its market value had grown to $25 billion after the company announced its intention to sell a couple of months ago.

In a previous post, I suggested that it would be unlikely that Biogen Idec would be able to induce a pharmaceutical suitor to take the “bait”. There simply was “too much hair” on the deal to warrant serious consideration by pharmaceutical suitors.

This will likely to be a serious and damaging blow to the Company. I am not sure what the future holds for Biogen Idec but I suspect it is not a bright one—whatever the outcome. Don’t be surprised if words like reorganization, strategic reallocation of resources or creative staffing solutions begin to appear in the media.  The company needs to sweeten the deal in order to get a real bite!

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (try Biogen/Idec, all of the”smart” people are dusting off their resumes)!!!!!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks (1)
• Share Link

Biogen IDEC, one of the world's largest and most profitable biotech companies, may be for sale.  The company was approached  last week by several pharmaceutical suitors and Carl Icahn the billionaire former corporate raider.  Mr Icahn has been interested in getting into the biotechnology business in a big way ever since he donated a large sum of money to Princeton University  (his alma mater) for a new molecular biology building. He currently owns substantial shares in a number of companies including Imclone, Biogen IDEC and others.

Biogen IDEC officials announced that while they are happy with the company's direction, they wanted to explore whether an acquisition by  a major pharmaceutical company may result "in superior value in the current environment". At $81 per share the company is valued at over $23 billion.  So, acquisition of the company would be the biggest ever of a biotechnology company and would easily eclipse the $15.6 billion that AstraZeneca paid to buy vaccine manufacturer MedImmune  last year.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Until next time....

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

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link