Pfizer's discussions to acquire Wyeth, the drug company that makes the antidepressant Effexor, have advanced, bringing the two pharmaceuticals giants closer to a potential merger, people briefed on the matter said Friday.
While no agreement had been reached, it was possible that a deal for Pfizer to buy Wyeth could be announced within days, said these people. Such a deal could be worth $60 billion or more, analysts say.
The merger would be popular among investors and analysts who have been pushing Pfizer to make a bold move. The drug maker has been struggling with flat revenue, diminishing returns on research and looming generic competition to Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug.
READ MORE @ INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
Showing posts with label Wyeth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wyeth. Show all posts
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Wyeth latest drugmaker to narrow focus of research
Like many of the top pharmaceutical companies, Wyeth is narrowing its research focus to far fewer diseases as it tries to produce more successful new drugs, particularly for conditions lacking good treatments.
Wyeth is even ending research in its signature areas in women's health - contraceptives and menopause treatments - and switching to other female health problems with an unmet need, such as ovarian cancer and lupus.
The Madison, N.J.-based company is scaling back from doing research in its current 14 therapeutic areas to just six, Dr. Evan Loh, a Wyeth vice president, said Wednesday. Instead of doing research on a total of 55 diseases, it now will work on 27.
READ MORE @ SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER
Wyeth is even ending research in its signature areas in women's health - contraceptives and menopause treatments - and switching to other female health problems with an unmet need, such as ovarian cancer and lupus.
The Madison, N.J.-based company is scaling back from doing research in its current 14 therapeutic areas to just six, Dr. Evan Loh, a Wyeth vice president, said Wednesday. Instead of doing research on a total of 55 diseases, it now will work on 27.
READ MORE @ SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER
Saturday, March 1, 2008
F.D.A. Approves Wyeth Antidepressant
Faced with the looming loss of patent protection for its top-selling drug, the antidepressant Effexor XR, Wyeth received federal approval on Friday for a successor drug, Pristiq, which the company hopes will also become a blockbuster.
With the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Pristiq, Wyeth said the company planned a big sales effort to introduce the product to psychiatrists and primary care doctors.
Wyeth needs a product that will replace some of the revenue expected to be lost to generic competitors of Effexor XR, whose patent protection expires in 2010. Sales of Effexor XR last year were $3.8 billion.
Dr. Philip Ninan, a Wyeth vice president for neuroscience, said he thought that Pristiq, which is chemically similar to Effexor, would have similar benefits in treating major depression. But the company said the drug had distinct advantages over its existing product.
Among them are that patients can start taking Pristiq at the therapeutic dose of 50 milligrams. Frequently, antidepressants must be started at a low dose, then ramped up to the therapeutic dose, to test whether patients can tolerate the drug and to determine the correct dose for the individual. Another advantage is that Pristiq does not have to be broken down by the liver, Dr. Ninan said, so it is not likely to interact with other medications metabolized by the liver.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
With the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Pristiq, Wyeth said the company planned a big sales effort to introduce the product to psychiatrists and primary care doctors.
Wyeth needs a product that will replace some of the revenue expected to be lost to generic competitors of Effexor XR, whose patent protection expires in 2010. Sales of Effexor XR last year were $3.8 billion.
Dr. Philip Ninan, a Wyeth vice president for neuroscience, said he thought that Pristiq, which is chemically similar to Effexor, would have similar benefits in treating major depression. But the company said the drug had distinct advantages over its existing product.
Among them are that patients can start taking Pristiq at the therapeutic dose of 50 milligrams. Frequently, antidepressants must be started at a low dose, then ramped up to the therapeutic dose, to test whether patients can tolerate the drug and to determine the correct dose for the individual. Another advantage is that Pristiq does not have to be broken down by the liver, Dr. Ninan said, so it is not likely to interact with other medications metabolized by the liver.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Generic Antidepressant May Affect Wyeth
The difference between a pill and a capsule might not seem big, but it could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales for Wyeth's top drug.
The Madison, N.J.-based company makes the best-selling antidepressant in the world, Effexor, with sales on pace to exceed $3.7 billion this year. The most common version is an extended-release capsule, Effexor XR.
Until recently, it seemed Wyeth would be the exclusive seller of extended-release Effexor in the United States through July 2010, thanks to its resolution of patent litigation in 2005.
But now Wyeth's market exclusivity is being threatened. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., a generics manufacturer in India, has applied for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell a drug with the same active ingredient as Effexor XR, but with an important difference: It's an extended-release tablet, not a capsule.
FDA approval of what is likely to be a lower-priced drug from Sun might come when patent protection for Effexor's active ingredient, venlafaxine, runs out in June 2008. Patent protection for the capsule formulation expires later. Sun's different formulation should allow it to sidestep Wyeth's patent rights, and Wyeth already has told Sun it won't sue for patent infringement.
READ MORE @ AP
The Madison, N.J.-based company makes the best-selling antidepressant in the world, Effexor, with sales on pace to exceed $3.7 billion this year. The most common version is an extended-release capsule, Effexor XR.
Until recently, it seemed Wyeth would be the exclusive seller of extended-release Effexor in the United States through July 2010, thanks to its resolution of patent litigation in 2005.
But now Wyeth's market exclusivity is being threatened. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., a generics manufacturer in India, has applied for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell a drug with the same active ingredient as Effexor XR, but with an important difference: It's an extended-release tablet, not a capsule.
FDA approval of what is likely to be a lower-priced drug from Sun might come when patent protection for Effexor's active ingredient, venlafaxine, runs out in June 2008. Patent protection for the capsule formulation expires later. Sun's different formulation should allow it to sidestep Wyeth's patent rights, and Wyeth already has told Sun it won't sue for patent infringement.
READ MORE @ AP
Thursday, August 16, 2007
U.S. deems Wyeth schizophrenia drug not approvable
U.S. health officials have determined that a schizophrenia drug developed by Wyeth and two other drugmakers is not approvable, the companies said on Friday, dealing Wyeth a second setback in a month on a product potentially close to the market.
And in another blow to Wyeth, its partner on an experimental hepatitis C drug, ViroPharma Inc., said on Friday that the companies were stopping a clinical trial of the medicine due to safety concerns.
READ MORE @ REUTERS
And in another blow to Wyeth, its partner on an experimental hepatitis C drug, ViroPharma Inc., said on Friday that the companies were stopping a clinical trial of the medicine due to safety concerns.
READ MORE @ REUTERS
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