Company and People Notes: Thermo Fisher Scientific Buys Priority Solutions International, Wyeth Elects New President and CEO, More

Company Notes

New York (Oct. 3)-Arsenal Capital Partners, a private equity firm, sold portfolio company Priority Solutions International to Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA), a provider of equipment, software, and services for research, analysis, discovery and diagnostics. Priority Solutions, based in Swedesboro, New Jersey, is a third-party logistics provider to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, and brought in revenues of approximately $95 million in 2006. Priority Solutions will be integrated into Thermo Fisher’s biopharma services business, which includes the packaging and delivery of regulated pharmaceutical samples to patients participating in clinical trials.

Winnipeg (Oct. 2)-Cangene will consolidate all research and development activities within the Winnipeg head office location. The company estimates the reorganization will reduce staff by 4% and result in a net operating savings of approximately $1.5 million annually. In addition, ongoing responsibility for any additional development of two products that have been submitted for licensure, “Accretropin” and “Leucotropin,” will be transferred to the Winnipeg group. Non-R&D functions at Cangene’s Mississauga site are unaffected by the consolidation.

Parsippany, NJ (Oct. 3)-DSM Biologics, a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products and Crucell (Leiden, The Netherlands) signed a biopharmaceutical manufacturing agreement for production on the basis of the “PER.C6” manufacturing platform of Crucell’s proprietary antibody combination, which Crucell develops for use against rabies. Under the terms of the agreement, Crucell has contracted DSM Biologics for the process validation and manufacturing of antibody batches for Phase III clinical efficacy studies. DSM will provide the services at its FDA-approved manufacturing facility in Groningen, The Netherlands.

Tokyo (Sept. 28)-Eisai and Kissei Pharmaceutical (Matsumoto City, Japan) andconcluded a license agreement for “Glufast” tablets (generic name: mitiglinide calcium hydrate), a rapid-acting insulin secretagogue originally created by Kissei. In the agreement, Eisai obtained the exclusive development and commercialization rights of Glufast in China from Kissei.

Pittsburgh, (Oct. 2)-Mylan completed its acquisition of Merck KGaA’s generics business (Merck Generics) to become the third largest generic company worldwide. The new Mylan employs more than 11,000 people and has a global presence in more than 90 countries. Mylan and Merck KGaA announced the acquisition on May 12, 2007, when they signed a definitive agreement under which Mylan would acquire Merck Generics for EUR 4.9 billion ($6.7 billion) in an all-cash transaction.

Woburn, MA (Sept. 27)-SupplyScape signed a license agreement with Pfizer for SupplyScape’s “E-Pedigree” data management software, which is designed to secure the drug supply channel and meet regulatory compliance requirements.

People Notes

Bala Cynwyd, PA (Oct. 3)-James S. Kuo joined Duska Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, as chief executive officer. He is also currently chairman of the board of directors.

Jupiter, FL (Oct. 1)-Dyadic International announced that interim president, chief scientific officer, and executive vice-president Dr. Glenn E. Nedwin resigned from all positions with the company on September 27, 2007. The resignation also includes his positions as a member of the board of directors and executive committee of the board of directors, as well as president of the company’s BioPharma Business. The company stated that Nedwin accepted a position with Danisco A/S.

Cambridge, MA (Oct. 3)-Helicos BioSciences promoted Stephen J. Lombardi to president and chief operating officer of the company. Lombardi will report to Stanley N. Lapidus, cofounder and chief executive officer. In addition, Lapidus was named chairman of the board of directors, and Noubar B. Afeyan, cofounder and previous chairman of the board of directors, was appointed lead independent director of the board.

Bethesda, MD (Oct. 2)-Northwest Biotherapeutics appointed Anthony P. Deasey as senior vice-president of finance and chief financial officer. He was also elected to the board of directors.

South San Francisco, CA (Oct. 1)-Renovis, a biopharmaceutical company, announced the resignation of Corey Goodman, as president and chief executive officer. Goodman will serve as a Renovis board member until the company merges with Evotec (Hamburg, Germany), with which Renovis signed a definitive merger agreement on September 19, 2007. Current chairman of the board John Walker assumed the position of executive chairman effective October 2, 2007.

St. Louis (Sept. 27)-Sigma-Aldrich named Patrick M. Sullivan vice-president of research and development for the Research Biotech business unit. Effective October 1, 2007, Sullivan reports to David A. Smoller, president of Research Biotech.

Madison, NJ (Sept. 28)-Bernard Poussot was elected to the position of president and chief executive officer of Wyeth, effective January 1, 2008. Poussot held several positions at Wyeth since joining the company in 1986, including his current title of president, chief operating officer, and vice-chairman of Wyeth. Robert Essner, current chairman and chief executive officer, will remain in his current positions through the end of 2007 and then will continue as chairman of the board of directors for a period of transition.