Takeda

This year's drug ads? Forget about 'em

Tracy Staton — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:42:19 -0400

If you ask viewers, this year's drug advertising lacks oomph. A ranking of the most-recalled DTC ads shows that consumers are having a harder time remembering them than they did last year. Some of 2007's most striking ads are either absent from the airwaves now or severely curtailed, including the food-or-family Vytorin pitch, Rozerem's beaver-and-Abe Lincoln extravaganza, Nasonex's buzzing bee and Lipitor's Robert Jarvik campaign. What's left, according to Nielsen and AdWeek, are a bunch of commercials whose level of recall would never have put them in the top 10 last year.

The culprit? Controversy, for one thing; money, for another. Takeda cut spending on Rozerem ads by 77 percent as the drug struggled to gain market share. Vytorin ran into controversy when a study showed that the Zocor-and-Zetia combo was no better at keeping arteries open than Zocor alone, and Congressional pressure led Merck/Schering-Plough to pull the friends-and-family ad altogether. The Nasonex bee drew criticism for its potentially distracting behavior during the ad's safety messages. And Pfizer pulled the Lipitor campaign after Congress hammered Jarvik for repping a heart drug when he's not a practicing doctor.

The most recalled ads so far this year include spots for Pfizer's Lyrica and Warner Chilcott's Loestrin 24Fe, which don't have a long-established presence on the airwaves. And Nielsen says the current crop just isn't as creative as the old. That's a problem that could worsen, the ratings firm postulates, as controversy causes companies to approach DTC advertising more cautiously and conservatively.

- read the AdWeek article

AZ raises forecast; Sanofi reports 'bloodbath'

Tracy Staton — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:36:34 -0400

More big earnings news today, with the undisputed winner being AstraZeneca, which raised its 2008 forecast and trounced analyst expectations for the quarter. Not so lucky: Sanofi-Aventis, whose earnings suffered on the weak dollar. Here's more:

Bayer posted a 13 percent drop in profits, but still beat the Street's forecast. Sales rose 3.6 percent to €8.51 billion. The healthcare unit reported a 6.6 percent increase in revenue, helped by a 90 percent leap in sales of the cancer treatment Nexavar, and big growth for contraceptives Mirena and Yasmin, and the multiple-sclerosis med Betaferon.
Allergan didn't suffer much from lower-than-expected sales of Botox and other meds; its sales rose 20 percent to $1.16 billion, and profits climbed to $147.3 million from $138 million a year ago.
AstraZeneca posted a 9 percent boost to sales to $7.96 billion, as the cholesterol med Crestor, asthma treatment Symbicort, and antipsychotic med Seroquel grew by more than 10 percent each. Nexium, the heartburn treatment, and heart med Toprol XL continued to lose sales, however, to generic competition. In emerging markets, overall revenues grew by 20 percent to $1.15 billion.
Sanofi-Aventis saw profits drop by 4 percent to €1.61 billion, as sales dropped almost the same amount to €6.69 billion. Currency losses outweighed increasing sales of big drugs such as the Lantus insulin injection and breast cancer med Taxotere. The company also discontinued development on four drugs. One analyst called the report a "bloodbath."
Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical saw its first-ever operating loss this quarter on costs from its $8.8 billion acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. The drugmaker saw a loss of $251.7 million (¥27.18 billion) on an 8.3 percent rise in revenues to 396.88 billion.
Daiichi Sankyo saw sales drop for the quarter, to ¥203.73 billion from ¥235.54 billion a year ago. Net income dropped, too, to ¥25.08 billion from 41.41 billion. The company also announced a procedural delay in its buyout of India's Ranbaxy Laboratories, as the companies await regulatory approval there.

- see the Bayer numbers in the Wall Street Journal
- check out Allergan's report in the Los Angeles Times
- read the Financial Times news on AstraZeneca
- find Sanofi's earnings at MarketWatch
- get Takeda's figures in Forbes
- see the RTT News piece on Daiichi

Moody's gives Takeda top-notch rating

Christe Bruderlin-Nelson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:11:09 -0400

Moody's Investory Services gave a thumbs up to Takeda Pharmaceuticals, with an "Aa1" issuer rating, saying the company's outlook is stable and it is likely to remain strong financially following the its acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals for $7.4 billion. Report

Falling dollar, falling drugmaker prices

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Is the U.S. drug industry bargain-basement land right now? Analysts say that the low, low dollar means low, low prices for pharma companies. Rivals in Asia and the Eurozone could snap up drug companies just like they've bought up Manhattan condos.

Takeda Pharmaceutical agreed to pay $8.8 billion for Millennium Pharmaceuticals--a 15 percent discount, as the dollar has fallen 15 percent against then yen since early 2007. Roche bought Ventana Medical for $3.4 billion--and though the price was higher than what the Swiss drugmaker originally bid, it still represented a double-digit discount because the dollar has sunk against the euro. Other examples, according to Pharmalot: Eisai's buyout of MGI Pharma for $3.9 billion, Novartis' 77 percent-stake acquisition of Alcon for $39 billion, and so on.

In Vivo worries that foreign buyouts might be against the national interest, considering the intellectual property at risk. Some U.S. companies might be able to get Congress to shield them from unwanted foreign takeovers, the blog suggests. Bioterror research, anyone?

- check out the Pharmalot item
- see the coverage from In Vivo

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