Eli Lilly & Co.’s chief executive is on the hunt for acquisitions of up to $15 billion now that he has bagged ImClone Systems for $6.5 billion.
“I got hungry again about three weeks after ImClone got closed,” Dr. John Lechleiter told the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) during a November interview.
Eli Lilly is not the only major drug company snapping up rivals to give new life its aging blockbuster drug lineup, according to the Journal. Analysts estimate that drugs with $30 billion in sales will go off patent and face competition from cheaper generic drugs in the next several years.
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The Journal ticked off major mergers since the beginning of the year:
- Pfizer Inc. agreed to take over Wyeth for $68 billion.
- Merck & Co. agreed to a merger with Schering-Plough Corp.
- Roche Holding AG won the portion of Genentech Inc. it didn’t already own.
- Abbott Laboratories Inc also appears to be on the takeover trail.
For many drug companies, buying a competitor has become an alternative to developing new blockbuster drugs. But it’s not clear that these mega-mergers lead to advantages in the drug industry.
“There’s no evidence that a consolidated industry is a more productive industry,” Lilly’s Lechleiter told the Journal. “I don’t think any of these large-scale consildations  address innovation.”
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Exactly right, concluded medical blogger Dr. Merrill Goozner in a March 10 post.
Still, some innovation is happening at big drug companies. The Associated Press reported today that Novartis AG has won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell a kidney cancer drug — Afinitor — that could be used to treat other cancers.
And a potential blockbuster diabetes drug being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb appears to be free from heart-related side effects so often connected with similar drugs, the FDA said in an AP report in the Kansas City Star.
Other stories worth a read:
- Sharfstein to serve as acting FDA chief (MedPage Today)
- Patients in drug trials not covered (Dayton Daily News)
- Rotavirus vaccine have potential to save 2.5 million lives by 2025Â (BusinessWire)
- Access to COBRA healthcare subsidy may expand (Los Angeles Times)
- Boston Scientific shares slump on heart stent data (Reuters)
- Genzyme and Bayer HealthCare enter new strategic agreement (BusinessWire)
- Novocell awarded seminal stem cell patent (BusinessWire)
- Minneapolis hospital sees a sickly economic toll (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
Photo illustration courtesy of Flickr user Vizzzual.com.
Mary Vanac is a co-founder of MedCity News.
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