Replies to post #3128 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

CEPH, BRL forge Actiq deal:

[What we have here might be called a government-mandated, contingent, authorized generic! Actiq is CEPH’s Fentanyl pain reliever on a lollipop, which has turned out to be a big-selling drug. This license deal overseen by the FTC gives BRL the exclusive right to an authorized generic for Actiq in 2007 if BRL has not already won the right to sell its own generic version by then.

This kind of deal is nothing new for BRL; they did something similar with Tamoxifen several years ago.]

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040809/health_cima_ftc_2.html

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US FTC okays Cephalon bid for Cima with conditions

WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust authorities said on Monday they had approved Cephalon Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:CEPH - News) proposed acquisition of Cima Labs Inc. (NasdaqNM:CIMA - News) on the condition it grant a rival permission to produce a generic form of a cancer pain relief drug.

The Federal Trade Commission said it had decided not oppose the combination of the two drug companies after the companies promised to give Barr Laboratories (NYSE:BRL - News) a license to make and sell a generic version of Cephalon's drug Actiq in the United States.

Last November Cephalon, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, agreed to buy Cima for about $515 million to gain access to Cima's technology for making drugs dissolve quickly on the tongue. Earlier this year the FTC sought more information about the deal.

"Cima is clearly poised to become Cephalon's major competitor in this market in the next few years, and this order ensures that the competition that would have been created by Cima's product will not be lost," said Susan Creighton, director of the FTC's bureau of competition.

Cephalon sells, among other drugs, the pain treatment Actiq, a lozenge on a stick that delivers the drug fentanyl to patients through the cheek.

Cima is also developing a fentanyl-based product that would be delivered through a fast-dissolving tablet.

"This transaction provides us with a tremendous opportunity to significantly expand our established pain care franchise by adding OraVescent fentanyl to our portfolio at a time when Actiq exclusivity expires," Frank Baldino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cephalon.
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