Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - (Page 1) News Funding for French biotechs falls Funding for French biotech has plummeted with a 79% drop in funding in 2008 ( 143 million) compared with 2007 ( 694 million). The grim situation facing French biotech companies was revealed by France Biotech, an organisation for French life science companies and their partners. Investment in listed companies collapsed to 12 million in 2008, which equates to a fall of 98% from 2007, while venture capital investments in private companies ( 132 million in 2008) fell by 27%. “To underpin the optimism of our entrepreneurs, we must adopt an aggressive stimulus plan for young, innovative companies,” said Philippe Pouletty, chairman of France Biotech. “Assuming they can access finance, today’s innovative small and medium businesses will become tomorrow’s multinationals and, thus, constitute an essential driver of strong, sustainable economic growth.” Unfortunately, and despite the French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s declarations on 22 January, the French government has weakened its support for young innovative companies for 2009; for example, the budget for the OSEO state innovation agency has been halved and the reform of the research tax credit has led to an annual reduction of 56% for biotech companies incorporated in the last 5 years. France Biotech has made several recommendations to improve the situation, including the removal of caps on taxefficient investments in young, innovative companies, and attributing 50% of the government’s Strategic Investment Fund to innovative French small and medium businesses to help them to acquire undervalued foreign companies and technologies. For more on these news stories and all the latest breaking pharma news, look at our website www.pharmexeceurope.com 11 March 2009 Pfizer expands generics portfolio Pfizer has entered into a series of agreements with the Indian company Aurobindo Pharma to commercialise medicines that are no longer patent protected and have lost market exclusivity in the US and Europe, as part of the company’s Established Products Business Unit. Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer has acquired rights to 39 generic solid oral dose products in the US, 20 in Europe and additional 11 in France, covering a broad range of therapeutic areas. Pfizer will commercialise the drugs through its Greenstone subsidiary. “These agreements represent solid, measurable progress and a strong commitment to achieve our growth objectives,” commented the president of the Unit, David Simmons. 2 From the Editor Value-based cynicism 6 Social Media Should pharma companies embrace Twitter? 9 Generics Bridging the talent gap in generics 11 Brussels Report Does Brussels need a wake up call on medicines? 13 Calendar The Industry’s upcoming events Can pharma Twitter? The US leads Europe in social media marketing, but European pharma is waking up to the power of Twitter. Do pharmaceutical companies really understand how to use it effectively? Turn to page 6. 14 On the Move This week’s movers and shakers http://www.pfizer.com http://www.aurobindo.com http://www.france-biotech.org
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 Contents From the Editor Social Media Generics Brussels Report Calendar On the Move Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Contents (Page 1) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 2) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 3) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 4) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 5) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Social Media (Page 6) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Social Media (Page 7) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Social Media (Page 8) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Generics (Page 9) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Generics (Page 10) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Brussels Report (Page 11) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Brussels Report (Page 12) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - Calendar (Page 13) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - March 11, 2009 - On the Move (Page 14)
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