Elite Pharmaceuticals Inc (ELTP)

[WeeZuhl]

Jimmy Joe, this caught my eye in January.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/depomed-to-buy-u-s-rights-to-nucynta-from-j-j-unit-1421357503

DepoMed to Buy U.S. Rights to Nucynta From J&J Unit
Deal to Position DepoMed as Pain, Neurology Focused Company
By JOSH BECKERMAN
Updated Jan. 16, 2015 2:04 p.m. ET

Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to sell its U.S. license rights to the painkiller Nucynta to DepoMed Inc. for $1.05 billion.

...

DepoMed said the deal will increase its 2014 pro forma net product revenue guidance by about 2.5 times. The company previously projected about $113 million to $117 million in 2014 product sales and overall revenue of about $232 million to $242 million.

The Nucynta franchise had U.S. net sales of about $166 million for the 12 months ended in September, DepoMed said.

Nucynta received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2008, with an extended-release form of the drug gaining approval in 2011. It treats conditions including pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

$1 billion for only U.S. rights to one single drug (IR + ER forms) that has been on the market now for 7 years and which I've never, ever seen prescribed by anyone. Supposedly comparable in strength to Ultram (tramadol), another drug I have little use for. No abuse deterrance, probably because nobody wants to abuse it. If Nucynta and Nucynta ER are worth $1 billion for only a U.S. license, I'm going to start looking at yacht catalogs. I don't live on a coast, but I'll fly there on my private jet.