Orgasmos de...$US 1 billon los de Sprout Addyi para Valeant.

Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc  said on Thursday it would buy Sprout Pharmaceuticals, which makes a controversial new drug to treat low sexual desire in women, for about $1 billion. 

Valeant shares fell about 5 percent as Wall Street questioned whether the acquisition would be too risky for the big drugmaker, which has done six other deals this year. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Sprout's Addyi on Tuesday after rejecting it twice. The pink pill proved only marginally effective in clinical trials and carries a strong warning about potentially dangerous low blood pressure and fainting, especially when taken with alcohol. 

 "Although the drug has a potentially large addressable patient population and will benefit from the marketing scale of Valeant’s sales force, acceptance of this product may ultimately be limited," Morningstar Research analyst Michael Waterhouse said. Health insurers may not cover the drug, he added. 

From PharmaGuy

While Addyi has been nicknamed "female Viagra," it works differently from Pfizer Inc's  product, which was introduced nearly two decades ago as the first drug for erectile dysfunction. Addyi is meant to activate sexual impulses in the brain and is taken daily, while Viagra affects blood flow and is taken as needed. 

Valeant will pay $500 million now and $500 million early next year in cash, delaying the company's plans to reduce debt from its $800 million purchase of Amoun Pharmaceutical announced last month and its $11 billion acquisition of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Moody's Investors Service said. Including Sprout, the company has done $18.2 billion in deals so far this year. 

Addyi's prospects are anything but certain, said Raghuram Selvaraju, managing director of brokerage Wainwright & Co. (Más)

 
Firstly, where does a Canadian pharmaceutical company come up with one billion dollars? 

Secondly, how long will it take to recoup that and other costs associated with selling Addyi and start to make a profit? 

 Obviously, Valeant is more confident in the drug’s success than is Public Citizen's Dr. Sidney Wolfe, who said the drug’s approval “recklessly disregards the worrisome risk information” and who predicts Addyi will have to be taken off the market after enough women have been seriously harmed by the “irreversible, or life threatening injuries” caused by the drug (read "Wolfe Disapproves, but 'Wolf' Approves FDA Decision re ADDYI"). 

Wolfe et al have a good track record predicting which drugs will eventually be pulled from the market due to safety issues. Read, for example, "Sydney Wolfe's 7-Year Drug Rule/Itch: Don't Prescribe or Imbibe Any New Drug for First Seven Years After FDA Approval."

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One Billion Dollars! O Valeant! Sung to tune of O Canada!

Ver también:
Valeant compra al fabricante de la «viagra femenina» un día después de su aprobación

Toda la "historia de Addyi" en PHARMACOSERÍAS