April 27, 2006: Company and People Notes

CompanyNews

Siemens Energy & Automation (Atlanta,GA, www.siemens.com)agreed to acquire the assets and business of Controlotron Corporation (Hauppauge,NY, www.controlotron.com).Siemens expects to close the deal in May and did not disclose the termsof agreement.

AppTecLaboratory Services (St. Paul, MN, www.apptecls.com)signed an agreement to scale-up and manufacture Chromos Molecular Systems, Inc.'s (Burnaby, BC, Canada, www.chromos.com)"CHR-1103" monoclonal antibody drug candidate for preclinical studiesand Phase I clinical trials.

The SupremePatent and Trademark Board of Austria affirmed an earlier ruling of theAustrian Patent Office invalidating RanbaxyLaboratories's (Haryana, India, www.ranbaxy.com)patent infrigement claims against Pfizer's (New York, NY, www.pfizer.com)use of atorvastatin calcium, the active ingredient in "Lipitor." Thoughthe ruling applies only to the patent litigation in Austria, Pfizeralso has won patent challenges over Ranbaxy in the United States, theUnited Kingdom, Norway, Romania, and Peru.

Actavis  (Reykjavik, Iceland, www.actavis.com)increased its preliminary proposal to acquire all outstanding PLIVA (Zagreb, Croatia, www.pliva.com) shareson the Zagreb and London stock exchanges by 11%. The new proposaloffers HRK 630 (US $1.85 billion) in cash per share.

Specialtypackaging firm Clondalkin Group (Amsterdam,Netherlands, www.clondalkin-group.com)acquired Pharmagraphics Inc., (Greensboro, NC, www.pharmagraphics.com)a supplier of leaflets, pressure-sensitive labels, folding cartons, andspecialty products to the pharmaceutical market. 

Cardinal Health (Somerset,NJ, www.cardinal.com)expanded capacity for its "DelStrip" unit-dose delivery system, amethod of packaging oral medicine in thin film strips. The packaging issuitable for child-resistant and senior-friendly applications.

At the request of the WorldHealth Organization  (WHO, Geneva Switzerland, www.who.int), Roche (Basel, Switzerland, www.roche.com)finished assembling a "Rapid Response Stockpile" of its "Tamiflu"(oseltamivir) influenza antiviral therapy. The stockpile will beavailable to WHO upon request.

Seattle Genetics (Bothell, WA, www.seattlegenetics.com)and Laureate Pharma(Princeton, NJ, www.laureatepharma.com) enteredinto a manufacturing agreement for Seattle Genetics's "SGN-33"and "SGN-70" humanized monoclonal antibody product candidates. Laureatewill perform scale-up and CGMP manufacturing of the clinical trialmaterials.

American Peptide Company (Sunnyvale,CA, www.americanpeptide.com)entered into a manufacturing supply agreement with Affymax Inc.  (PaloAlto, CA, www.affymax.com)for the CGMP production of Affymax's "Hematide" drug candidate. 

People

ThomasRosanske, PhD, was named executive director of productdevelopment analytical services for PPD,Inc.'s (Wilmington, DE,www.ppdi.com)CGMP laboratory. Rosanske served in management and senior researchroles at companies including  Beckloff Associates, Eli Lilly andCompany, and Quintiles.

Biopharmaceuticalcompany CombinatoRx (Cambridge,MA, www.combinatorx.com)appointed Lynn Baird, PhD,to the post of senior vice-president of regulatory affairs, qualityassurance, and quality control. Baird will be responsible for allaspects of domestic and international regulatory affairs. Before comingto CombinatoRx, she held senior positions in the regulatory affairsdepartments of Dyax Corporation and Reprogenesis.

Hospira, Inc. (Lake Forest, IL, www.hospira.com)named Terrence C. Kearneyto the newly created position of chief operating officer. In this role,Kearney will be responsible for manufacturing, quality, and regulatoryaffairs.

RJ Palermo  was promoted to Interphex (Norwalk, CT, www.interphex.com)event  director. Palermo will manage the event's future growth,success, and industry stakeholder relationships.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (Madison, NJ,www.wyeth.com)appointed Hilary Malone, PhD, assenior vice-president of global regulatory affairs. Malone joined Wyethin 2001 and previously held regulatory affairs positions at AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.

Highlighted Events

May8: The USFood and Drug Administration (FDA, Rockville, MD, www.fda.gov)has scheduled a public meeting, ?Preparation for InternationalConference on Harmonization (ICH) Meetings in Yokohama, Japan.? FDAwill hold its preparatory meeting on Monday, May 8 at 9:30 a.m at theagency?s Rockville offices to provide information and solicit publicinput about the topics for discussion in Yokohama on June 5?8.Participants should register with Sema Hashemi, [email protected].

June27?30: Interphex (Norwalk, CT, www.interphex.com)has introduced its Interphex Mexico (Norwalk, CT, www.interphexmexico.com)conference to give pharmaceutical manufacturing professionals theopportunity to access new equipment, technologies, and services fromtop suppliers. The conference will cover the latest developments andapplications to increase productivity and will give attendees  theopportunity to network with colleagues. High-level general sessionswill feature industry leaders. Additional suppliers and solutions canbe found at colocated EXPO PACK Mexico and PROCESA. Interphex Mexico isscheduled for June 27?30 in Mexico City, Mexico.