Enzon, Santaris Pharma Enter Oncology Pact

Posted on July 27, 2006 @ 11:15 am

Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Santaris Pharma have entered into a collaboration to develop and commercialize a series of RNA Antagonists based on Santaris Pharma's LNA technology and utilizing Enzon's oncology drug development expertise.

Under the terms of the agreement, Enzon is licensing two of Santaris Pharma's preclinical development compounds, the HIF-1 alpha antagonist (SPC2968) and the Survivin antagonist (SPC3042), and six additional proprietary RNA Antagonist candidates for oncology drug targets selected by Enzon. Enzon will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize these compounds in the U.S. and other non-European territories. Santaris will retain commercialization rights in Europe. Also, Enzon will have the opportunity to explore the potential of its next-generation PEGylation Customized Linker Technology for additional benefits.

Enzon will make an initial up-front payment of $8 million to Santaris Pharma, and an additional $3 million upon the identification of certain LNA targets. Additional payments will be made based on successful pre-specified discovery, development and regulatory milestones, representing a total of more than $200 million. Enzon will pay royalties to Santaris Pharma on net sales of RNA Antagonist products resulting from the collaboration in non-European territories.

"This important collaboration is in line with our strategic goal of advancing our presence in oncology while leveraging our access to proprietary new technologies," said Jeffrey H. Buchalter, Enzon's chairman and chief executive officer. "This partnership will greatly enhance our R&D pipeline with the addition of two new clinical programs in the next six-to-12 months and another six preclinical compounds entering the pipeline over the next few years."

"We are delighted to be in partnership with Enzon Pharmaceuticals, whose new management has extensive experience of developing and commercializing innovative oncology drugs, making them an ideal partner for Santaris," said Keith McCullagh, president and chief executive officer, Santaris Pharma. "Together we are committed to building a unique portfolio of RNA Antagonist drugs with the potential to address some of the underlying genetic causes of disease and improve patient outcomes in the treatment of cancer."

Executive Moves: Genentech

Posted on July 27, 2006 @ 11:14 am

Genentech, Inc. has appointed Gary Harbour, Ph.D. to vice president, commercial quality, South San Francisco and has promoted Robert Andreatta to controller.

Dr. Harbour will be responsible for leading the quality function in all commercial bulk, filling and packaging operations in South San Francisco. He will report to Vince Anicetti, vice president, commercial quality. He joins the company from Pfizer, where he was senior director of global manufacturing quality operations Europe and a member of Pfizer's quality leadership team. Prior to that, Dr. Harbour held various quality and global supply vice-presidential roles with Upjohn and then Pharmacia and served on the board of directors for various international companies.

Mr. Andreatta will be responsible for accounting and reporting, financial services, collaborations finance, and tax and will report to John Whiting, vice president, finance and chief accounting officer. Mr. Andreatta joined the company in 2003 as director, collaborations finance. He has held positions of increasing responsibility, including director, corporate accounting and reporting, and senior director, corporate finance and assistant controller. Prior to his employment with Genentech, he was chief operating officer and chief financial officer at HopeLink Corp. Prior to that, he was an audit partner with KPMG.

Financial Report: Bristol-Myers Squibb

Posted on July 27, 2006 @ 11:09 am

Bristol-Myers Squibb

2Q Revenues: $4.9 billion (flat)

2Q Earnings: $667 million (-34%)

YTD Revenues: $9.5 billion (+1%)

YTD Earnings: $1.4 million (-10%)

Comments: U.S. pharmaceutical sales increased 5% to $2.2 billion driven by growth of Plavix, Avapro/Avalide, Erbitux, Abilify, Reyataz and Sustiva, and sales of new products Emsam and Orencia. These sales partially offset the loss of exclusivity of Pravachol. R&D expenses increased by 14% to $740 million in the quarter. International pharmaceutical sales were down 8% to $1.7 billion mainly due to a decline in Pravachol and Taxol sales resulting from increased generic competition in Europe. Sprycel for adults with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Atripla for HIV, recently received approval.

Financial Report: Kendle

Posted on July 27, 2006 @ 11:08 am

Kendle

2Q Revenues: $81.9 million (+34%)

2Q Earnings: $4.3 million (+198%)

YTD Revenues: $159.1 million (+33%)

YTD Earnings: $9.2 million (+156%)

Comments: Service revenues for the quarter were $62.1 million, up 24%. New business awards were $84 million and contract cancellations for the quarter were $17 million. Total business authorizations, which consist of backlog, totaled $350 million. Revenues by geographic region for the quarter were 60% in the Americas, 37% in Europe and 3% in the Asia-Pacific region.

Financial Report: Millennium

Posted on July 27, 2006 @ 11:06 am

Millennium

2Q Revenues: $120 million (+9%)

2Q Loss: $17.9 million (loss of $44 million in 2Q2005)

YTD Revenues: $242.6 million (+4%)

YTD Loss: $38.5 million (loss of $80 million YTD2005)

Comments: U.S. Velcade sales increased 34% to $58.8 million in the quarter. Royalties associated with Integrilin Injection worldwide sales and Velcade ex-U.S. sales were $34.2 million for the quarter. Revenue from strategic alliances increased 42% to $27.2 million in the quarter. R&D expenses were down 9% to $79 million in the quarter.