Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Mylan/King Pharmaceutical merger US generic drug manufacturer Mylan Laboratories has arranged to buy out King Pharmaceuticals in an estimated $4 billion deal. Mylan is the #3 generic drug company in the world, after Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz, a part of Aventis. Generic drugs are prescription drugs that have run out of patent protection. Mylan makes generics in areas like antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, laxatives, and beta-blockers. Mylan also has subsidiaries, Bertek Pharmaceuticals and Mylan Tech, that develop some branded, patented drugs, in the area of neurology, dermatology, and cardiology. The company is coming out with a competitive new anti-hypertensive, Nebivolol. King Pharmaceuticals sells both generic and branded products in such areas as women's health, cardiovascular care, and anti-infectives. Its biggest sellers are Altace, an anti-hypertensive, and Estrasorb, which treats "hot flashes" for menopausal women. According to the Wall Street Journal ("Mylan to Buy King Pharmaceuticals," 7/26/2004): The generic-drug industry has enjoyed rising sales in recent years, thanks to cost-containment efforts by employers, and state and federal governments, which have pushed health-care beneficiaries to cheaper off-patent medicine. But competition in this commodity business is intense, squeezing margins to razor-thin levels. Further pressure in the generics is coming for the entry of low-cost manufacturers in India and new strategies used by branded rivals to undercut the generics' profits. In other words, the line between distinct business categories is eroding in a matrix shift. The big prescription drug companies are selling more generics and the generics are now moving into patented drugs. Generic drug companies have been involved in long and costly court battles with the patent drug companies who have been trying all kinds of legal ruses to extend the patents on their drugs. 7:33:27 PM

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