Company and People Notes: BMS to Acquire Kosan, L. Patrick Gage Resigns from PDL, More...

Company Notes

Phoenixville, PA (May 29)-Bilcare Global Clinical Supplies, a provider of clinical trial services, completed an expansion of storage capacity at its warehouse facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, that doubles ambient storage capacity. This expansion is part of a larger project to expand other areas of the facility. The larger project should be completed in the third quarter of this year.

Princeton, NJ (May 29)-Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Kosan Biosciences (Hayward, CA), a biotechnology company, signed a definitive merger agreement by which BMS will acquire Kosan for $5.50 per share in cash. The transaction has a net aggregate purchase price of approximately $190 million after deducting Kosan’s projected net cash balance on June 30, 2008. BMS will gain compounds in two classes of anticancer agents, novel Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) inhibitors and epothilones, in the acquisition.

Basel (May 27)-Contract manufacturer Lonza will acquire the cell supplier Amaxa (Cologne, Germany) and all its activities. Amaxa is a supplier to the transfection-systems niche of the cell-discovery market. Financial details remain confidential. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approval, which is expected to take place early in the third quarter of 2008.

Pittsburgh, PA (June 2)-Mylan acquired Merck KGaA’s Central and Eastern Europe generics businesses, which include operations in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. As announced previously, Mylan had the option to acquire these businesses as part of the October 2007 agreement in which Mylan acquired Merck KGaA’s generics business (Merck Generics) in Western Europe, Asia–Pacific, Africa, and North America. The acquisition does not require any additional consideration from Mylan to Merck.

East Hills, NY (May 29)-Pall, a specialist in filtration, separation, and purification technologies, is planning a five-year geographical expansion in Latin America. The expansion includes Pall's Life Sciences and Industrial businesses in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The company appointed Felix M. Diaz as president of Pall Latin America Region to direct the Latin America expansion initiative. Diaz joined the company in 2000 and previously served as president of global operations for Pall Life Sciences.

Toronto (June 2)-Patheon, a pharmaceutical service provider, established a Japanese subsidiary based in Tokyo. Patheon K.K. will operate from offices located in the Nihonbashi district of central Tokyo and will support Patheon’s business requirements in the region. Local staff will be added to the Tokyo office to fulfill the company’s Asian business requirements.

Aubagne, France (June 3)-Sartorius Stedim Biotech entered into an agreement with WuXi AppTec, a wholly owned operating subsidiary of WuXi PharmaTech (Shanghai), to cooperate on viral-clearance studies. Under this agreement, WuXi AppTec will provide viruses, materials, and methodologies to Sartorius Stedim Biotech to conduct non-GLP viral-clearance testing of its technologies.

People Notes

Mountain View, CA (May 29)-Anthony Clarke joined Alexza Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company, as vice-president of international development operations. He will be responsible for the development and execution of clinical and regulatory program operations in international territories for Alexza’s product candidates.

Cambridge, MA (May 30)-Biogen Idec named Hans Peter Hasler chief operating officer of the company. Hasler previously served as executive vice-president of global neurology. In his new role, Hasler will oversee commercial operations as well as the company’s business-development function.

New York (June 2)-Biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems appointed Bernhard Ehmer as senior vice-president and managing director of international operations, effective May 30, 2008.

San Diego, CA (May 28)-Kinematik, a company focused on enterprise software solutions for life sciences, promoted Aaron Norman to vice-president of implementation and services. Norman will report directly to CEO Thomas Cassidy.

Redwood City, CA (May 29)-L. Patrick Gage resigned as a director of PDL BioPharma because of differences of opinion among the board members over the prioritization of the company’s objectives. Gage will no longer serve as interim CEO. Karen A. Dawes resigned as a member of the board for personal reasons. The three remaining PDL board members, Brad Goodwin, Joseph Klein III, and Laurence Korn, will jointly constitute a newly created office of the chair of the board. Until a new chief executive officer for PDL is identified, PDL’s Executive Team will report directly to the office of the chair.

Calgary, Canada (May 30)-Stem Cell Therapeutics, a biotechnology company, appointed Thomas Franck as vice-president of commercial planning. Franck is a 30-year veteran of Procter & Gamble.