Skip to main content

Brennan's ouster at AstraZeneca sets stage for big changes in R&D Read more: Brennan's ouster at AstraZeneca sets stage for big changes in R&D - FierceBiotech http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/brennans-ouster-astrazeneca-sets-stage-big-changes-rd/2012-04-26#ixzz1tJUET7YE Subscribe: http://www.fiercebiotech.com/signup?sourceform=Viral-Tynt-FierceBiotech-FierceBiotech


The ongoing restructuring underway at AstraZeneca ($AZN) claimed one more employee today: The chief architect. 
CEO David Brennan has abruptly resigned--pushed out in a coup, according to the BBC--with plans to hand over the reins to CFO Simon Lowth as the pharma giant begins the hunt for a new chief. Leif Johansson will move in to the non-executive chairman's spot June 1, moving up the date on the planned switch out at the top to provide some stability for a company undergoing wrenching changes.
Brennan's departure marks the end of a 6-year stint plagued with R&D setbacks capped by layoffs and a showdown with a restive crowd of investors and analysts increasingly frustrated by the company's failure to execute an effective round of acquisitions and licensing deals. His resignation will take him out of the firing line for the annual meeting after the company reported a 44% plunge in first quarter profits, a predictable result of new generic competition for Seroquel.

Brennan's R&D strategy in anticipation of the patent cliff has been widely viewed as a complete bust, leaving the company with the weakest late-stage pipeline in Big Pharma. His $15 billion deal to acquire MedImmune has netted no new big products. And a string of clinical setbacks was capped recently by the failure of a Phase III depression program. In response, Brennan has been axing staffers, most recently offering plans to chop 2,200 research workers in a new round of layoffs. 
The focus now is on AstraZeneca's next steps on the deal-making side. The company has been scrambling to come up with a round of acquisitions, like its recently announced plan to buy Ardea for $1.26 billion. And Brennan said today that that strategy will continue as the company adds more such deals in the single-digit billion dollar range.
AstraZeneca has emerged as one of the most likely companies to play White Knight to Amylin ($AMLN), which has been fending off a reported buyout offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY). The company's willingness to go in any disease direction to strike new deals will make it a possible bidder for a range of biotechs. And in this heated M&A environment, with a string of companies like Bayer already scouting significant buyouts, keeping AstraZeneca in the M&A game will likely help add to the premiums sellers can expect. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contact Precautions May Have Unintended Consequences

Contact precautions, including gloves, gowns, and isolated rooms, have helped stem the transmission of hospital pathogens but have also had some negative consequences, according to findings from a new study. Healthcare worker (HCWs) visited patients on contact precautions less frequently than other patients and spent less time with those patients when they did visit, report Daniel J. Morgan, MD, from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs (VA) Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, and colleagues. Moreover, patients on contact precautions also received fewer outside visitors. "Less contact with HCWs suggests that other unintended consequences of contact precautions still exist," Dr. Morgan and coauthors write. "The resulting decrease in HCW contact may lead to increased adverse events and a lower quality of patient care due to less consistent patient monitoring and poorer adherence to standard adverse event prevention methods (such...
Post a Comment
Read more

CareFusion Issues Update on Infant Breathing Product Recall

July 5, 2012 — Medical device maker CareFusion has issued an update reminding healthcare providers of its voluntary recall of its Air Life ™ Infant Breathing Circuit, initiated back in May. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified this action as a class 1 recall, meaning there is a reasonable probability of serious adverse health consequences or death associated with use of the defective units. The update was posted July 2 on the FDA  Website. On May 29, 2012, CareFusion sent an  Urgent Recall Notice  to customers and distributors stating that the company had identified potential risks associated with the Air Life  Infant Breathing Circuit. The action was initiated after the company received complaints of the Y adapter within the breathing circuit developing cracks during patient use. "If a crack develops in the Y adapter, this could potentially result in a leak in the closed ventilation system, leading to a loss in the intended tidal volum...
Post a Comment
Read more

FDA Approves Tapentadol ER for Diabetic Neuropathy

August 29, 2012 — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved tapentadol extended-release (ER) ( Nucynta , Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc) for the management of neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in adults for whom a continuous opioid analgesic is required over an extended time. It is the first opioid to receive this indication, the company notes in a statement today. DPN, the most common type of neuropathy, affects an estimated 16% of the more than 25 million Americans who have diabetes. The condition is often unreported and untreated, with an estimated 2 out of 5 cases not receiving care. Tapentadol ER is already approved for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain in adults requiring a continuous opioid analgesic for an extended period. It is a centrally acting synthetic analgesic, although the exact mechanism of action is unknown, the release states. "Although the clinical relevance is unclear," the company n...
4 comments
Read more