PharmaDeals

2008-09-03
Pfizer has paid US$725 M for Medivation’s Alzheimer’s drug, Dimebon™. Unlike drugs such as Flurizan® (tarenflurbil) and bapineuzumab, which have stumbled in clinical trials, Dimebon has demonstrated significant benefit to Alzheimer’s sufferers in Phase III clinical trials and offers a new approach to treat the disease.

2008-09-02
Shionogi has agreed to acquire Sciele Pharma for US$1.4 B in another instance of a Japanese pharmaceutical company taking over a US company. The changes in the local industry within Japan have fuelled this trend, though it is now increasingly likely that Japanese pharmaceuticals are simply trying to keep up with their competitors’ global strategies.

2008-09-02
Novacea and Transcept Pharmaceuticals entered into a merger agreement in an all-stock transaction. Novacea was seeking a merger candidate since Schering-Plough ended its collaboration following the termination of a Phase III study for the prostate cancer therapy, Asentar™.