QDIS Blog

This came across my desk last week and I haven’t had time to comment on it yet. Seems Schering-Plough is interested in merging with Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Schering-Plough eyes Bristol-Myers deal: newspaper - washingtonpost.com:

I think this is just speculations on the part of major media, fueled the recent problems that BMS has had and with their CEO being fired. Knowing some of each company (I use to work for BMS) I think the culture and approach to drug development are so different that it would be difficult at best. While there appears to be a good match in terms of not having a lot of overlap in terms of promising areas, I feel these are overwhelmed by the differences in approaches to developing drugs.

I should point out that this seems to only have been discussed internally inside Schering-Plough and that they have not approached Bristol-Myers Squibb.

A lot will depend on the search for a new CEO at BMS and how whomever they hire views such a proposal. I’ll definitely keep my eye on this and see what develops in the near future.

Technorati Tags: BMS, Bristol-Myers Squibb, drug development, pharma M&A, pharmaceutical companies, Schering-Plough

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I continue to be concerned about the number of bacteria that are developing more and more resistance to most known antibiotics. Recently, tuberculosis (TB) has seen a rise world-wide but even more concerning is that he number of multi-drug resistance strains have been turning up in the US.

More drug-resistant TB seen in U.S. - Yahoo! News:

There are about 2 million cases of TB world-wide each year and most are in Africa and southeast Asia. Recently in Africa 50 people died from a strain which is said to be extensively drug resistant.

In the US, about 74 cases of TB have been reported since 1993. But in the modern area of jet travel, it seems inevitable that it will spread. Already there has been an increase in the US in these multi-driug resistant strains: in 2004 there were 18 cases but in 2005 that increased to 24.

Unfortunately, until this becomes profitable for the pharmaceutical companies, I don’t see many of them investing significant amounts of money. I hold hope that some smaller nibbler biotech or pharmaceutical company will be able to make progress in this area.

Other Resources

• Division of Tuberculosis Elimination (DTBE) - Home Page (Center for Disease Control)
• WHO | Tuberculosis
• MedlinePlus: Tuberculosis
• Tuberculosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Institute for Tuberculosis Research
• Stop TB Partnership - Home Page
• Tuberculosis News

Technorati Tags: antibiotics, drug resistance, tuberculosis

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I came across this article recently again on biogenerics.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/19/2006 | Opening a path for biotech generics

There’s not much new but it does have quotes from both sides; those for a biogenerics system and those against it.

I still think there will eventually be a system of some kind for approval of biogenerics but I think it will take an act of Congress before to make it happen and I’m not holding my breath for changes anytime in the next few years. Until a large number of diverse groups bring pressure to bear, things won’t improve.

Technorati Tags: biogenerics, drug development, follow on biologics

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Well, Anormed is back in the news and the suitor this time is Millennium.

AnorMED Press Release: September 26, 2006:

Seems they didn’t like the Genzyme offer but now have agreed to be acquired by Millennium for $12 per share or a 40% premium over what Genzyme was offering. It is also a 21% premium over the Anormed’s closing price on Sept 25.

This looks like a better option for Anormed shareholders but may be a little on the expensive side. In light of full disclosure, I do own a few shares of Millennium and think they may be paying a little too much for the acquisition.

I find it head spinning with the number of M&A activities in the past few months and unless something changes, I don’t see that changing through the rest of this year, especially in Europe.

For more, here’s the news results from Yahoo and Google.

• Yahoo! News Search Results for anormed millennium
• anormed millennium - Google News

Technorati Tags: Anormed, pharma M&A, pharmaceutical deals, Millenium

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Consolidation seems to be all the rage in the pharmaceutical industry recently. I’ve posted about others but here is the latest.

Schwarz Joins Pharma Consolidation Trend - Forbes.com:

Schwarz Pharma will be purchased by UCB of Belgium for 4.4 billiob euros ($5.64 billion US dollars).

I think you will consider to see M&A activity especially in Europe through the ned of the year.
Technorati Tags: pharma M&A, pharmaceutical deals, Schwarz Pharma, UCB

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I have a passing interest in paleontology and had the opportunity several years ago to attend a class taught by Edwin “Ned” Colbert, the famous paleontologist who actually discovered the dinosaur known as Coelophysis. He was Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for many years. Here is a picture of him with a Coelophysis skeleton.

Click here for a larger image.

The best part was the class was taught in New Mexico at Ghost Ranch where the quarry was discovered (you can see photos of the are here).

Click here for a larger image.

The above photo is by UGAclint from his flickr account. This photo shows that at Ghost Ranch you can view a very large portion of the earth’s history as seen through the rock layers.

So I was very interested to read this recent article concerning some new developments with this very old dinosaur.

Myth Busted: Dinosaur Not a Cannibal - Yahoo! News

One of the famous fossils from there was one that distinctly looks like there are bones of a small dinosuar which looks like Coelophysis inside the abdomen of another large adult dinosaur. This is currently at the American Museum of Natural History and here is a photo of it. I have seen this one as well as another in the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology at Ghost Ranch.

Click here for a larger image.

Seems the bones inside the adult Coelophysis are NOT a infant Coelophysis but another small crocodilian species that lived during the same time period (early Triassic). So Coelophysis was NOT a cannibal! It’s too ad this happenedafter Ned Colbert passed away.

Here is a link to the abstract of the article from Biology Letters.

Prey choice and cannibalistic behaviour in the theropod Coelophysis

Here is the Edwin Colbert biography from Wikipedia.

Other Resources

“The Little Dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch” (Edwin Harris Colbert)

“Digging into the Past” (Edwin Harris Colbert): great autobiography of Ned’s early life.
“Great Dinosaur Hunters and Their Discoveries” (Edwin H. Colbert)
Coelophysis- Enchanted Learning Software

Technorati Tags: Coelophysis, dinosaur, Ned Colbert, paleontology

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With the coming of the fall TV season I’ve noticed something I’ll call the “Tivo Tide”. I joined the lucky ranks of timeshifters for TV about a year ago and have rarely watched live TV since. When I purchased my Tivo (it is indeed a true Tivo unit) I got the largest hard drive available and so have quite a few season passes.

I have several shows on the major networks that I watch regularly and I have these set to only record first run episodes. Then lower in my season pass list are some other shows that I like to watch but they aren’t priorities. I have these set for first run and repeats. What this allows is that I see the shows I want and after the regular season I get to catch up on the lower priority shows. This is particularly true when two shows are on at the same time.

This lets me see two shows that may be on the same time without having to either have two units or a unit capable of recording two shows at the same time.

I call it Tivo Tide because the shows on my Tivo seem to go through a series of undulations and now shows that I haven’t thought about or seen an episode of in a long time are appearing. Then as the TV season slows and comes to an end, those fade and I get to see a whole new crop of shows and catch up on them.

Technorati Tags: television, Tivo, Tivo Tide, TV

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This is a follow-up (see previous post here and here) on the proposed acquisition of Plivas by either Actavis or Barr Labs. Now it seems Actavis isn’t going to increase their offer and it looks like Barr Labs may indeed be in a position to acquire Pliva.

• Actavis, outbid on Pliva, weighs new M&A dealsMovers: Way cleared for Barr to buy drug maker
• Pliva - Marketplace by Bloomberg - International Herald Tribune
• Actavis Won’t Raise Pliva Bid, Clearing Way for Barr
• Barr biogenerics: big payoff, big risk - Sep. 15, 2006

I really think that, barring some regulatory hurdle that isn’t apparent now, Barr will end up with Pliva probably before the end of the year. However, it may well be the Barr is paying more that Pliva is trulyy worth. Only time will tell.

Technorati Tags: Actavis, Barr Labs, pharma M&A, pharmaceutical deals, Pliva

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I found this recent Forbes article interesting. It reports on a large study called DREAM of the diabetic drug Avendia and how some see it as indicating an increase in heart attacks and strokes.

Glaxo’s Faustian Pill - Forbes.com

The increase in risk is described as 37% but in 62% of the patients with high blood sugars avoided developing diabetes. Without more data on the potential benefits, I don’t see this drug going anywhere. It may be useful in conjunction with a genetic test that might be developed to identify those who are at highest risks. If I was developing this drug, that’s definitely one area I would be actively investigating.

I think that the Vioxx factor may be playing a part. It seems everyone is looking for cardiovascular problems with just about any drug and if you look hard enough you find what you are looking for. now, I want to make it clear that I’m not saying we shouldn’t evaluate risks but that you have to weigh the risk against the reward. In this case, defining the rewards are much more difficult.

Technorati Tags: Avendia, GlaxoSmithKline, Vioxx factor

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I reported on pharming before but wanted to point out this latest article from the Times of London.

‘Pharm’ goats give birth to new drugs - Sunday Times - Times Online

The drug being produced is ATryn, an anti-clotting drug used to treat patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency (HAD). This makes the patients vulnerable to deep-vein thrombosis. The drug is being developed by a US company called GTC Biotherapeutics.

There is also mentioned another company developing the drug Rhucin for treatment of angioedema (swelling of soft tissue). This is being developed by the Dutch company Pharming.

It is great to note that these life-savings drugs are being approved. I would note that this really only applies to biologics. I can’t see small molecules being produced in this way anytime in the near future.

Other resources

• Transgenic Animals
• Transgenic animal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• GlaxoSmithKline: The role of transgenic animals in biomedical research
• Public Perception of Transgenic Animals (pdf)
• Barnyard 101: An Introduction to Transgenic Farm Animals

Technorati Tags: ATryn, GTC Biotherapeutics, pharming, Rhucin, transgenic animals

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