Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - (Page 4) Let the Mergers Begin S o, as was predicted in these and other pages, Pfizer has made the move to buy itself out of trouble, announcing last week that it is to acquire Wyeth for $68 billion. The news sent the pharma commentators and bloggers into a flurry about what lies ahead for what will be one of the biggest pharma companies in the history of pharma companies. Frost & Sullivan’s A. Shabeer Hussain says the acquisition means Pfizer will maintain its top position for the next 5 years, and will enhance the pipeline products for the therapeutic areas in Alzheimer’s disease, auto immune disease, inflammation, oncology, pain and others. Pfizer, he says, will become unique in having more than 15 products with $1.0 billion each in annual revenue. “This is to move away from the dependence on a single blockbuster molecule as was the case with Lipitor,” he adds. Of course, the company will now face the combined blow of the patent expiries of Lipitor in 2011 (which currently generates around $13 billion a year) and of Wyeth’s anti-depressant drug Effexor (which generates around $3.92 billion). Nevertheless, Pfizer’s expensive step, Hussain believes will “trigger some big M&A activity in the pharmaceutical industry in forthcoming weeks.” On his In the Pipeline blog, however, Derek Lowe points out that The Wall Street Journal reports that Pfizer is having to pay about 8% for the money it’s borrowing to buy Wyeth, and that the funds are due back in a year. “There are also very significant clauses in the deal which make it contingent on Pfizer’s bond ratings, etc., and will force the company to shell out if things don’t go as planned,” he says. “There’s a 4.5 billion dollar breakup fee, for example, which seems to be about twice the usual contingency.” So, given the economic situation, the acquisition is even bolder than it looks, and it looks pretty bold. Let’s see if it really paves the way for the major Big Pharma shopping spree that is being mooted. 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Smith Visting Fellow, Open University and CEO, Pragmedic Supply Chain Julian Mount Senior Director Head of European Trade, Pfizer Biopartnering Gerhard Symons Doctoral Researcher Imperial College Business School, London Medical Education Peter George CEO, Penn Pharmaceutical Services Information Technology George Laszlo Managing Director Laszlo consulting Group Publisher Andy Davies Tel. +44 1244 393 408 adavies@advanstar.com Editorial Director Peter Houston Tel. +44 1244 393 435 phouston@advanstar.com Editor Julian Upton jupton@advanstar.com Marketing Manager Sally Carron scarron@advanstar.com Sales Manager Tel. +44 1244 393202 James Gray jgray@advanstar.com Sales Support Claire Rice crice@advanstar.com Senior Graphic Designer Ian Williams iwilliams@advanstar.com Published by Advanstar Communications (U.K.) Ltd Advanstar House Park West, Sealand Road Chester CH1 4RN United Kingdom Corporate Office 641 Lexington Ave., 8th Floor New York, NY 10022-4503 Chief Executive Officer Joe Loggia Chief Financial Officer Ted Alpert Executive VP, Corporate Development Eric I. 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Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 Contents News From the Editor Brussels Report Comment On the Move Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - Contents (Page 1) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - News (Page 2) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - News (Page 3) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 4) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - Brussels Report (Page 5) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - Brussels Report (Page 6) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - Brussels Report (Page 7) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - Comment (Page 8) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - Comment (Page 9) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 3, 2009 - On the Move (Page 10)
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