Valeant in $1.5-billion securities repurchase

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE,TSX:VRX) said it may make purchases of its convertible notes, senior notes and/or common shares under a $1.5-billion (U.S.) securities repurchase program. The Valeant board also approved a sublimit of up to 16 million common shares purchased for cancellation program under the program as part of a normal course issuer bid, representing [...]

Biovail and Valeant to merge

Biovail (NYSE:BVF; TSX:BVF) and California-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX) have agreed to merge through a stock swap that will create one of North America’s biggest specialty drug makers to be called Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. Under the accord, Valeant stockholders will receive 1.7809 shares of Biovail common stock in exchange for each share of Valeant common stock [...]

Intellipharmaceutics CEO moulded at Biovail U

Fifteen years ago, Dr. Isa Odidi performed magic as CSO of Biovail (NYSE:BVF; TSX:BVF), developing several blockbuster generics, including hard-to-manufacture copies of Bayer’s Adalat CC, Pfizer’s Procardia XL and Novartis’ Voltaren XR. “We have the same style here at Intellipharmaceutics (NASDAQ:IPCI; TSX:I) as we had at Biovail,” Dr. Odidi says in an exclusive interview with [...]

Biovail in license pact with Kyowa Hakko Kirin

Biovail (NYSE:BVF; TSX:BVF) has entered into a license agreement with Japan’s  to acquire the U.S. and Canadian rights to commercialize products containing istradefylline A, a new chemical entity targeted for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Under the accord, Biovail paid an upfront fee of $10 million, and could pay up to $20 million in potential [...]

Biotech’s new normal is search for efficiency

Coming out of a harrowing financial crisis and recession, the outlines of a “new normal” are starting to emerge in the general economy and biotech industry, Ernst & Young says in its global biotechnology report for 2010, Beyond Borders. On the surface, E&Y says it would appear that the worst is indeed over for biotech. [...]

In conversation with Dr. Erich Mohr

Dr. Erich Mohr enjoyed his time in academia as a neuropsychologist at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and University of Ottawa.  But he couldn’t resist the entrepreneurial call when it came knocking in 1996. Teaming up with a good friend, they formed CroMedia Global, a contract research organization that grew to 550 employees in [...]

Biovail acquires compounds to treat respiratory depression

Biovail (NYSE:BVF; TSX:BVF) has acquired certain ampakine compounds, including associated intellectual property, from Cortex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CORX) for use in the field of respiratory depression, a brain-mediated breathing disorder. The acquired assets include the Phase 2 compound CX717, preclinical compounds CX1763 and CX1942, and an injectable dosage form of CX1739. As part of the transaction, Biovail [...]

Biovail in accord to commercialize Alexza’s CNS drug

Biovail (TSX:BVF; NYSE:BVF) has entered into a collaboration and licence agreement to commercialize Alexza Pharmaceuticals’ AZ-004 drug for the rapid treatment of agitation in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in the U.S. and Canada. AZ-004 is a novel formulation of loxapine and is administered via deep lung inhalation using Alexza’s proprietary Staccato device. In [...]