Executive Moves: ImClone

Posted on March 31, 2008 @ 08:55 am

Kenneth J. Zuerblis has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer at ImClone Systems. Mr. Zuerblis has more than 25 years of experience in financial and operational management. He previously served as chief financial officer of Enzon Pharmaceuticals, joining that company in 1991 and serving as its CFO from 1994 to 2005.

"Ken brings to ImClone a valuable combination of strategic, financial, operational and public company experience as well as a strong commitment to the development of new treatment options for cancer," said John H. Johnson, chief executive officer of ImClone. "He has an impressive track record in growing a development-stage organization into a profitable multi-product biopharmaceutical company. We believe Ken will contribute substantially to ImClone’s efforts in becoming a fully-integrated global leader in cancer therapies as we continue to aggressively pursue initiatives to maximize our Erbitux franchise and further advance our robust pipeline of novel antibodies."

Prior to joining Enzon, Mr. Zuerblis was at KPMG LLP where he held positions of increasing responsibility over a 10-year period, serving in various advisory roles, including strategic business, tax, audit, and debt and equity financings. Mr. Zuerblis is a certified public accountant and has a degree in accounting from Seton Hall University.

Medarex Gains Novo Nordisk Milestone

Posted on March 31, 2008 @ 08:51 am

Medarex, Inc. will receive a milestone payment for an undisclosed amount from its licensing partner, Novo Nordisk A/S. The payment is a result of the submission of an IND by Novo Nordisk for the clinical development of an antibody generated by Medarex's UltiMAb technology. Medarex may receive future milestone payments and royalties should the product candidate progress through clinical development and to the market.

"We are pleased with the milestone achieved by Novo Nordisk and look forward to continued development progress with this antibody," said Howard H. Pien, president and chief executive officer of Medarex. "Product development advances of this type by Novo Nordisk and our other partners underpin the important role of our antibody technology in the development of new therapeutics."

Teva To Buy Bentley

Posted on March 31, 2008 @ 08:49 am

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has entered an agreement to buy Bentley Pharmaceuticals. The move will follow the spin-off of Bentley's drug delivery business, which was announced in October 2007. Teva will spend approximately $360 million to acquire Bentley, which will consist solely of the generic pharmaceutical operations.

Bentley manufactures and markets a portfolio of 130 pharmaceutical products in various dosages and strengths, as both branded generic and generic products, to physicians, pharmacists and hospitals. Bentley markets its products primarily in Spain, but also sells generic pharmaceuticals in other parts of the European Union. These efforts are supported by finished dosage and active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facilities. Bentley’s generic pharmaceutical operations generated revenues of approximately $114 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.

Commenting on the transaction, Shlomo Yanai, Teva's president and chief executive officer, said, "This is an important acquisition for Teva, as the combination of Teva Spain and Bentley will provide us with a platform to capture a leading position in the fast-growing Spanish generic pharmaceutical market. Spain was identified as one of our target markets in the strategic review we conducted last year. We are extremely pleased that we will have Bentley’s strong management and work force, complementing our existing management team, to support our growth strategy."

Teva initially established a presence in Spain in 2004. Since then, TEVA Genericos Espanola, S.L. has introduced more than 60 products targeted both to hospitals and pharmacies. Teva is currently the fourth largest generic company in Spain in the hospital market.