07.17.13
Frankfurter Str. 250
D-64293 Darmstadt Germany
Tel: (49) 6151-72-0
Fax: (49) 6151-72-2000
www.merck.de
Top Selling Drugs
Account for 65% of total pharma sales, up from 64% in 2011.
The hits keep coming for Merck Serono, and not in a good way. The company launched a restructuring plan in April 2012, after the failure of multiple sclerosis candidate cladribine. In September 2012, as part of the “Fit for 2018” efficiency program, MS announced plans to lay off 1,100 employees in Germany, from a starting point of 10,900 employees. The layoffs will come from early retirement and voluntary exits through 2015, with a promise of no forced firings in Germany until 2017.
Two weeks after that announcement, MS announced that it was withdrawing an application to expand Erbitux’s label to cover non-small cell lung cancer. The drug failed in a gastric cancer trial in July 2012 and Serono R&D subsequently suffered failures from Stimuvax (NSCLC) in December 2012 and cilgenitide (glioblastoma) in February 2013. Also in February, Serono signed a pact with Opexa on a potential first-in-class treatment for MS currently in Phase IIb.
Merck Serono didn’t perform too badly in 2012, financially speaking. In Euros, revenues climbed 8%, driven by a 12% bump for MS treatment Rebif. But those gains were fueled by three price increases throughout the year. MS is such a competitive field that this strategy isn’t going to keep Merck Serono afloat too much longer.
Outsourcing News
In May 2013, Merck Serono signed a five-year clinical development deal with Quintiles. The CRO will serve as the sole primary provider of Merck Serono’s outsourced clinical development services for its global clinical programs, providing MS with “expanded global reach to implement development programs around the world,” according to a joint statement. MS will lead clinical strategy, while Quintiles will plan and execute trials, as well as contribute to MS’ future clinical trial design activities through optimized clinical trial design and execution strategies. Quintiles will also collaborate in strategic decision-making processes affecting the development of Merck Serono’s portfolio. To learn more about this pact, visit our Q&A with Quintiles execs Kathy Ford and Paula Brown Stafford at http://bit.ly/19dKoio
In December 2012, MS signed a deal for Neopharma to sell several MS medicines in the United Arab Emirates. Neopharma will manufacture hormone therapy Euthyrox and diabetes treatment Glucophage for the UAE market.
D-64293 Darmstadt Germany
Tel: (49) 6151-72-0
Fax: (49) 6151-72-2000
www.merck.de
Headcount | 39,000 | |
Year Established | 1668 | |
Bio/Pharma Revenues | $8,234 | 0% |
Total Revenues | $14,364 | 0% |
Net Income | $729 | -14% |
R&D Budget | $1,526 | -11% |
Top Selling Drugs
Drug | Indication | $ | (+/- %) |
Rebif | MS | $2,434 | 3% |
Erbitux | oncology | $1,140 | -4% |
Gonal-f | female fertility | $787 | 7% |
Glucophage | diabetes | $514 | 7% |
Concor group | heart failure | $489 | -12% |
The hits keep coming for Merck Serono, and not in a good way. The company launched a restructuring plan in April 2012, after the failure of multiple sclerosis candidate cladribine. In September 2012, as part of the “Fit for 2018” efficiency program, MS announced plans to lay off 1,100 employees in Germany, from a starting point of 10,900 employees. The layoffs will come from early retirement and voluntary exits through 2015, with a promise of no forced firings in Germany until 2017.
Two weeks after that announcement, MS announced that it was withdrawing an application to expand Erbitux’s label to cover non-small cell lung cancer. The drug failed in a gastric cancer trial in July 2012 and Serono R&D subsequently suffered failures from Stimuvax (NSCLC) in December 2012 and cilgenitide (glioblastoma) in February 2013. Also in February, Serono signed a pact with Opexa on a potential first-in-class treatment for MS currently in Phase IIb.
Merck Serono didn’t perform too badly in 2012, financially speaking. In Euros, revenues climbed 8%, driven by a 12% bump for MS treatment Rebif. But those gains were fueled by three price increases throughout the year. MS is such a competitive field that this strategy isn’t going to keep Merck Serono afloat too much longer.
Outsourcing News
In May 2013, Merck Serono signed a five-year clinical development deal with Quintiles. The CRO will serve as the sole primary provider of Merck Serono’s outsourced clinical development services for its global clinical programs, providing MS with “expanded global reach to implement development programs around the world,” according to a joint statement. MS will lead clinical strategy, while Quintiles will plan and execute trials, as well as contribute to MS’ future clinical trial design activities through optimized clinical trial design and execution strategies. Quintiles will also collaborate in strategic decision-making processes affecting the development of Merck Serono’s portfolio. To learn more about this pact, visit our Q&A with Quintiles execs Kathy Ford and Paula Brown Stafford at http://bit.ly/19dKoio
In December 2012, MS signed a deal for Neopharma to sell several MS medicines in the United Arab Emirates. Neopharma will manufacture hormone therapy Euthyrox and diabetes treatment Glucophage for the UAE market.