Mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring

Nottingham, UK (Mar. 20)—R5 is a new contract manufacturing organization (CMO) focused on producing oral-dosage forms in small quantities for use in Phase I and II trials. The CMO was established on the BioCity campus in the United Kingdom. It expects to expand to sterile injectables in the near future.

Kenilworth, NJ (Mar. 12)—Schering-Plough Corporation (www.schering-plough.com~) agreed to acquire Organon BioSciences N.V. (Oss, Netherlands, www.organobiosciences.com~), the human and animal health businesses of Akzo Nobel N.V. (Arnhem, Netherlands, www.akzonobel.com~), for EUR 11 billion ($14.4 billion).

Last year, Akzo Nobel divested its human and health businesses into a separate company, Organon BioSciences, with the plan to partially float the company on the European stock exchanges. With the deal, Akzo Nobel no longer will proceed with the partial initial public offering.

Organon, the human-health pharmaceutical business of Organon BioSciences, had sales of $3.4 billion in 2006. Schering-Plough's proposed move adds to the company's position in central nervous drugs, women's healthcare products, and biologics capacity for developing human vaccines. With the completion of the deal, Schering-Plough will gain five drugs in Phase III development.

Schering-Plough expects to achieve annual costs savings of $500 million over the next three years. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2007.

Concord, OH (Mar. 8)—Ricerca BioSciences (www.ricerca.com~) completed a financial restructuring that includes new equity and term facilities totaling nearly $50 million. The company is implementing a multiyear plan that includes a $15-million investment to add chemistry and biological laboratories to its site in Concord.

Indianapolis, IN (Mar. 5)—Eli Lilly and Company (www.lilly.com~) agreed to acquire the neuroscience drug-discovery and -development company Hypnion, Inc. (Lexington, MA, www.hypnion.com~). The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2007.

Prague (Mar. 5)—The Czech pharmaceutical company Zentiva N.V. (www.zentiva.cz~) agreed to acquire 75% of the issued share capital of Turkish company Eczacibasi Generic Pharmaceuticals for EUR 460 million ($608.3 million). The move positions Zentiva as the third largest generic drug company in Turkey, says Zentiva.

Allegan, MI (Mar. 6)—The Perrigo Company (www.perrigo.com~) agreed to acquire nine generic prescription dermatological products and four pipeline products from Glades Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Duluth, GA, www.glades.com~). The transaction totals $56 million in cash, plus other considerations for future research and development collaborations.

Berlin (Mar. 2)—Bayer HealthCare (www.bayerhealthcare.com~) will integrate the activities of its pharmaceutical division with those of the newly acquired Schering AG, resulting in the elimination of 6100 jobs. The staff reduction includes 1000 in the United States and 3150 in Europe. Some 1850 production positions and 1400 global research and development functions will be cut by 2009. Bayer estimates the move will save approximately EUR 700 million ($918 million). Berlin will remain the headquarters and largest location for the newly formed Bayer Schering Pharma AG.

Toronto, ON, Canada (Mar. 2)—Patheon, Inc. (www.patheon.com~) formed an agreement with JLL Partners (New York, www.jllpartners.com~) under which JLL will purchase $150 million of convertible preferred shares of Patheon.