BMS Rumors Persist

According to a post over at Pharmalot, BMS may be positioning itself for sale or readying itself as a potential M&A target.   

Although BMS has been rumored for years to be a takeover target, the impending loss of revenues generated by its anticlotting drug Plavix (co-marketed with Sanofi-Aventis) due to patent expiry in 2011 is wreaking havoc at the company.  As much as 50% of BMS’s revenue is generated by the Plavix franchise. The impending loss of Plavix suggests that thing must drastically change at the company in order for it to remain independent.

Time will sell….I mean tell....!!!!!

Until next time….

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

Word on the Street: Pfizer May Counteroffer for Ranbaxy

Rumor has it that Pfizer may offer a counteroffer to acquire India-based generics manufacturer Ranbaxy. As you may recall, Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo agreed earlier in the week to pay about $4.6 billion for a controlling interest in Ranbaxy. According to reports many analysts expect Pfizer to attempt to queer to the Daiichi-Ranbaxy deal because “it is battling Ranbaxy in about 18 countries on patent rights of Lipitor, the largest selling cholesterol drug in the world. Lipitor has annual sales of $13 billion. In most countries the patent on the drug will expire starting 2011.”  Ranbaxy has won favorable court decisions on Lipitor in many countries including in the US, the largest drug market in the world, which accounts for 28 per cent of the global generic market estimated at $72 billion.

I tend to agree with the pundits. Pfizer has a lousy pipeline and its recent clinical trial record is horrendous. Consequently, the company must hang on (as long as possible and at any cost) to its blockbuster brands to avoid financial ruin.

Stay tuned for late-breaking news and updates!

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

Patent Expiry: Coming Soon to a Pharmaceutical Company Near You!

The Wall Street Journal Online published an insightful article today on the future of the pharmaceutical industry.  The article did not contain anything that we didn’t already know–pharma is in deep doo-doo. Starting in 2010, the pharmaceutical industry faces one of the biggest waves of patent expirations ever, affecting dozens of top-selling drugs.

The WSJ was kind enough to put together a great table showing the drugs that will be losing patent protection in the near future, their manufacturers, the clinical indications for which the drugs were approved and the size of the current market for each product.

Don’t you just love the resources that high impact newspapers have at their disposal? Check it out…..

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (if you can find one)!!!!!!