jueves, 31 de marzo de 2011

NOVARTIS ataca de nuevo...?


Ben Adams

Roche
could be vulnerable to a takeover from its Swiss rival Novartis after changes in its boardroom.

The Roche family group has held a controlling 50.01% stake in the company for generations, but this has now dropped to 45.01% after Maja Oeri, a descendant of Fritz Hoffman La-Roche, left the family pool.

She now holds her 5% stake independently of the family, ending an agreement that has existed for over 60 years.

Novartis owns a third of Roche’s voting rights, and could make another takeover bid for the company after an unsuccessful attempt in 2004.

Roche had a difficult year in 2010, after its biggest seller Avastin had its US licence for breast cancer use rescinded, while price pressures in developed markets forced it to lower its forecast for 2011.

The company has also been hit by a number of late-stage failures including its phase III diabetes drug taspoglutide. Nevertheless, Roche remains one of the most dynamic of the industry’s major companies, and dismissed the renewed talk of a takeover bid.

Speaking to Swiss newspaper the SonntagsZeitung, Roche’s spokesman Andre Hoffman refuted the speculation, saying that Roche was “not for sale”.

“In our view, a merger between Roche and Novartis makes even less sense today than it did five or 10 years ago.

“The two companies have positioned themselves strategically very differently: Novartis continues to concentrate on eye care and generics whilst Roche focuses on personalised medicine with innovative pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

“Put simply, it does not match,” Hoffman concluded.

Novartis is unlikely to make an immediate bid as it has recently spent $13 billion on acquiring ophthalmology company Alcon to make it the leading eye care specialist in the world.

Analysts at Helvea however have said that a long-term acquisition could be on the cards given the attractive nature of Roche and its impressive oncology pipeline.
(Ver)

Se publicó ya en PHARMACOSERÍAS...

ROCHE: Perder el control...

ROCHE: No vendo...

ZURICH | Sun Mar 27, 2011 Reuters

Roche will not be up for sale in future and one investor's exit from the group's controlling shareholder pact does not mean the family is running away from the Swiss drugmaker, one of the pool's members was quoted saying.

The family group, which has controlled Roche Holding AG for decades, now holds 45.01 percent, down from 50.01 percent after Maja Oeri decided to exercise her shareholder rights independently, leaving an agreement that has existed since 1948.

This move could leave Roche vulnerable to being taken over and some speculated last week that Novartis, which owns a third of the voting rights in Roche, may rekindle its interest in the group after making a play for its cross-town rival in 2004.

But Andre Hoffmann, spokesman for the family group and also vice chairman of Roche, said the shareholders would continue to protect Roche's independence.

"Roche will also not be up for sale in the future. From our point of view a fusion of Roche and Novartis makes even less sense than it did five or 10 years ago," Hoffmann was quoted saying in an interview with Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung on Sunday.

"The two groups have strategically positioned themselves quite differently. Novartis has additional pillars with eye medicine and generics. Roche is concentrating on personalized medicine with innovative pharma and diagnostics. That doesn't go together," Hoffmann said.

Hoffmann also said Maja Oeri's decision was not entirely unexpected.

"Maja Oeri had signaled to the other family members already a few years ago that in time she would like to exercise her shareholder rights independently," Hoffmann said, adding the other members respected this decision.

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miércoles, 30 de marzo de 2011

NOVARTIS... con Ipad trabajan menos visitan/producen más...


In a note to employees this morning, Novartis ceo Joe Jimenez gushed that the Apple iPad offers the drugmaker “game-changing” technology that will make it possible for sales reps to save 250 hours over the course of the year and allow “the entire field force to make an incredible 35,000 additional customer visits each year.”


This conclusion, of course, has not yet been proven. But Novartis did trim 1,400 sales reps from its roster in recent weeks, underscoring how technology will increasingly be used by the pharmaceutical industry to eliminate such personnel whenever possible (back story). A few more iPads and perhaps a few more hundred reps will go?


But there is more. Jimenez also notes that “another benefit of having sales materials on the iPad is that our reps will be more compliant - unlike with paper versions, you can’t alter the electronic materials.” What does that say about how reps are viewed? In any event, the drugmaker recently began using the iPad in a pilot program in its vaccines division. (Más)


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"Top ten" en despidos 2010: 50.000 en total.

PFIZER...a toda marcha. Lilly y BMS la siguen.

A Pfizer lidera o ranking das farmacêuticas mais afectadas com o fim das patentes de medicamentos. A previsão é de cerca de 29,2 mil milhões de dólares até 2013. Em segundo lugar, vem a Lilly com 12,9 mil milhões de dólares. A terceira é a Bristol-Meyers Squibb, com 11,3 mil milhões de dólares. A patente do Lipitor®, medicamento para colesterol mais vendido no mundo, termina em Novembro. Só o Lipitor® representa receita de 12,9 mil milhões de dólares para a Pfizer, avança a Globo.

Segundo um estudo da Universidade de Tufts, as dez empresas mais afectadas devem perder 114 mil milhões de dólares em patentes neste mesmo período.

Com a perda bilionária, a Pfizer diz que a saída é acelerar o desenvolvimento de novas drogas. Isso geraria uma compensação, segundo Belén Carrilo-Rivas, directora de pesquisa, projectos e estratégia da empresa.

“Queremos focar-nos nas necessidades médicas que hoje não são supridas. Os pacientes estão à espera. Não é fazer um remédio que vai vender muito, mas sim atender a necessidade do paciente” afirma Belén.

Entre os alvos da Pfizer estão as áreas de vacinas, cardiovascular, oncologia, doenças inflamatórias (como artrite reumatóide), doenças genéticas e neurologia. (Más)

Fasa se "desfasa..."


El mercado farmacéutico en el Perú sigue movido, pues tras las ventas de las cadenas Inkafarma y Boticas BTL (ver abajo notas relacionadas), la próxima cadena en cambiar de manos sería Fasa.
En el mercado se escuchan fuertes versiones de la posibilidad de que el grupo chileno Casa Saba venda la cadena de boticas Farmacias Ahumada (Fasa) de México y Perú, según informó el Diario Financiero de Chile.

Escenario complicado

En México -la principal operación de Fasa- las ventas cayeron 1.9% y las utilidades 1.6% en el cuarto trimestre.
En Chile revivió el caso colusión de precios, luego que fueron formalizados cuatro ex ejecutivos de la cadena, entre ellos el ex gerente general de la firma, Sergio Purcell.
En Perú, en tanto, está vigente una causa similar contra varias cadenas entre ellas Fasa.
(Ver)

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CHILE: Cadenas "en cadenas"...?

martes, 29 de marzo de 2011

PORTUGAL: PFIZER gana una...para LIPITOR.

Para a Pfizer, trata-se de «uma decisão histórica»: por ordem do Tribunal de Comércio de Sintra, o laboratório Farmoz acaba de ser obrigado a retirar do mercado um medicamento genérico que estava a ser vendido nas farmácias a um preço substancialmente inferior ao original, desde Dezembro passado.

Motivo: a patente da atorvastatina, um dos medicamentos para o colesterol mais vendidos no mundo, apenas expira em Portugal no próximo ano.

O Tribunal de Comércio da Comarca da Grande Lisboa-Noroeste (Juízo de Sintra) chegou mesmo a mandar, no dia 17 de Março, a polícia às instalações da Farmoz (que pertence ao grupo Tecnimede) com instruções para que apreendesse o produto em questão, mas não havia nada em armazém, descreve Pedro Vale Gonçalves, director jurídico da Pfizer.

A Tecnimede e o INFARMED têm agora a obrigação de recolher as embalagens que estão «ilegalmente» no mercado, defende o director jurídico da Pfizer, que nota que a empresa se arrisca a pagar cinco mil euros de multa por dia, caso desrespeite a decisão. «Os medicamentos inovadores têm custos de investigação e de produção elevados e é preciso garantir o retorno do investimento», justifica, estimando que a multinacional estava a perder um milhão de euros por mês com a entrada deste genérico no mercado - comparticipada a 37% pelo Estado, uma embalagem de 40 miligramas com 60 comprimidos da Pfizer custa 100 euros, enquanto uma caixa de genéricos fica por 65.

Lamentando não ter sido ouvida pelo tribunal neste processo, a Farmoz garante que não está a violar «qualquer processo de fabrico que possa estar protegido por patente» e sublinha que vai tentar revogar esta providência cautelar. Num esclarecimento escrito, lembra que já tinham sido instauradas providências cautelares separadas para a atribuição de autorização de introdução no mercado, de preço e de comparticipação da atorvastatina Farmoz. «Todas as providências cautelares e recursos apresentados em tribunal deram razão à empresa Farmoz, ao INFARMED, à DGAE e à Secretaria de Estado da Saúde, o que possibilitou o lançamento no mercado deste medicamento», acentua, sublinhando que este genérico já está a ser vendido em Espanha, sem qualquer restrição. O mesmo sucede noutros países europeus, onde a patente já expirou. Pedro Vale Gonçalves explica que o fim das patentes (com validade de 20 anos) varia de país para país, porque isso depende do momento em que são solicitadas.

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"Mobbing" al estilo GLAXO...

No Desk, No Chair: Glaxo to Torture Staffers By Abolishing Personal Workspaces

By Jim Edwards | March 17, 2011

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has a slightly insane plan to install a free-form, open-space officeenvironment at its HQ in which no one has an assigned desk, chair or computer. Employees will just show up at the Research Triangle Park, N.C., building with their laptops and sit wherever they want.

This trendy new program seems guaranteed to make everyone crazy: Employees will be unable to personalize their workspaces with family photos or memorabilia. Instead, they will be given a storage locker in which they can keep files and keyboards. Welcome back to high school, GSK! About 40 GSK employees have already made the switch; 1,500 will follow shortly. Among the other changes:

* Offices will be divided into flexible “neighborhoods” in which groups of employees can work on projects together.

* Employees will receive etiquette classes to teach them to leave the space they used pristine for the next worker.

* GSK expects the system will increase collaboration, and lessen use of email and phones.

* Workstations will be adjustable for tall and short employees.

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