Pfizer’s newly acquired King Pharmaceuticals is recalling its painkiller Embeda for the fourth time in a little more than a year. And a Pfizer spokesperson told Reuters that it may be off the market for some months to come.
Embeda--which earned about $70 million last year--uses naltrexone to prevent people from abusing the opioid. But Pfizer says the naltrexone had degraded to an unacceptable point, forcing the recall. The same drug was recalled due to formulation problems three times last year. King had 2009 revenue of almost $1.8 billion, so the loss of Embeda for some months won't significantly affect the value of Pfizer’s purchase.
"There are other assets that make this a good deal for us," says a spokesperson. "It expands our pain portfolio, both of marketed products and ones in registration."
- here's the story from Reuters