QDIS Blog

An another major merger, Schering-Plough is acquiring Organon Biosciences, the animal and human health business of Akzo Nobel for $14.4 Billion.

PharmaLive: Schering-Plough to Acquire Organon BioSciences
Schering think this will be a good addition to their pipeline and the deal is excepted to close before the end of this year. The Organon website is pretty vague on the number and kinds of products in its pipeline so it is hard to judge without further research. They say they have products at various stages including several in pate stage development. They have the plan to fill at least one new major product each year for the next few years. As you can see, it is pretty lacking of details. They do mention two products; asenapine for treatment of bipolar and schizophrenia and sugammadex used to reverse the affects of neuromuscular block

Schering Plough news release:

Schering-Plough to Acquire Organon BioSciences

Other Resources

asenapine - Yahoo! Search Results
asenapine - Google Search
Google Blog Search: asenapine
IceRocket Blog Search: asenapine

sugammadex - Yahoo! Search Results
sugammadex - Google Search
Google Blog Search: sugammadex
IceRocket Blog Search: sugammadex

Technorati Tags: Organon Biosciences, pharma M&A, pharmaceutical deals, Schering-Plough

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Zymogenetics received good news recently when they released information that the FDA would NOT require more clinic studies for a spray to be used during surgery to stop bleeding.

ZymoGenetics spray moves ahead

This could shorten the timeline to approval for a spray by as much as 18 months but there would still need to be paperwork filled in the form of a Prior Approval Supplement. They filed for approval of rhThrombin in Dec 2006 and the spray would be a new formulation.

It should be noted that this would be the first Thrombin product which does not rely on animal or human blood. The currently approved thrombin products are derived cow blood and have potential problems such as concerns over Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) as well as leading to complications in some people who develop antibodies to the cow derived product.

Technorati Tags: Thrombin, Zymogenetics

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The US isn’t the only country that is trying to decide what to do in regard to drug pricing.

British regulator calls for drug pricing overhaul - International Herald Tribune

The Office of Fair Trade in Britain wants to change a 50 year old law that places profit limits on branded prescription drugs. They state it could save the country almost $1 billion each year. The proposed plan would tie pricing to the therapeutic benefit they provide to patients but details of how this would be determined were not mentioned.

Other countries have instituted a similar program and include Australia, Canada, and Sweden.The drub manufacturers in Britain such as GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca are concerned about delays relating to launch as well as discourage future companies from investing in the pharmaceutical industry in Britain.

Technorati Tags: drug cost, drug price

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