Acquisition

WebMD calls off sales plans, CEO steps down amid ugly forecast for 2012

Matthew Arnold January 10, 2012

WebMD scrapped plans for a possible sale and announced that president and CEO Wayne Gattinella is stepping down after 11 years in that role.

As GSK jettisons consumer brands, smaller marketer sees boon

Marc Iskowitz December 28, 2011

GlaxoSmithKline divested North American OTC drugs worth about $200 million in sales, a portfolio that seemed like a good strategic fit for buyer Prestige Brands Holdings.

Behind WebMD's PE courtship, a business model under pressure

Matthew Arnold December 23, 2011

WebMD's talks with private equity firms come amid an advertising slump, and going private could buy the firm time to retool its business model while insulating it from activist investors like Carl Icahn.

Remedy Health buys HealthCentral, promises broader ad reach

Marc Iskowitz November 29, 2011

Health information site HealthCentral has been acquired by Remedy Health, a multimedia provider of content and tools designed to help people manage disease, the firms said today.

Pri-Med sold; John Mooney returns as CEO

Marc Iskowitz November 23, 2011

Pri-Med founder John Mooney and his former management team have returned to the firm, which is under new ownership following M|C Holding's sale of Pri-Med's US assets to Canadian event and media producer Diversified Business Communications.

Springer in deal to buy Wolters Kluwer pharma-related journals

Marc Iskowitz November 09, 2011

Wolters Kluwer reached an agreement to sell its pharma-related marketing and publishing services unit to Springer Science+Business Media, the firms said today.

IMS Health closes SDI deal, must divest two SDI product lines

Marc Iskowitz November 01, 2011

Federal regulators gave IMS Health the go-ahead to buy SDI Health, and IMS's parent company must now divest two SDI product lines.

Rosetta polishes off Wishbone, announces new leadership

Matthew Arnold August 15, 2011

Wishbone founder Steve Michaelson and chief strategy officer Judy Capano retired last month as the shop was absorbed into Rosetta, which acquired the agency in 2009 and was, in turn, snapped up by Publicis.

LBi launches US digital health shop

Matthew Arnold July 12, 2011

LBi, a big European indie digital agency network, is opening up a healthcare marketing shop in the US, seeing opportunity in Publicis' increasing domination of the digital health space.

Seeking "savoir-faire," Publicis buys Rosetta for $575 million

Matthew Arnold May 17, 2011

Publicis is padding its digital health agency supergroup with a $575 million-plus acquisition of Rosetta Marketing Group.

Teva buys Cephalon, beefs up branded business

Matthew Arnold May 02, 2011

Teva is buying Cephalon for $6.8 billion, thwarting a hostile takeover attempt by Valeant and bolstering the generics giant's footing in the market for branded pharmaceuticals.

Endo in another below-the-belt acquisition

Matthew Arnold April 11, 2011

Endo Pharmaceuticals announced plans to acquire American Medical Systems, a Minnesota maker of pelvic health products and devices, for $2.9 billion.

Company news: Merck, Pfizer and Dendreon

April 05, 2011

Merck said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire specialty pharmaceutical company Inspire for about $430 million.

Forest Labs to acquire Clinical Data, add reps for Viibryd launch

Ben Comer February 22, 2011

Forest Labs will acquire Clinical Data for $1.2 billion, and expand its primary care sales forces in preparation for the launch of Viibryd (vilazodone HCI), executives said in a call this morning.

IMS Health to acquire SDI

Ben Comer January 18, 2011

IMS Health will acquire SDI, bringing two of the largest data firms servicing the pharmaceutical industry together into one company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Contract sales firm PDI buys digital shop Group DCA

Matthew Arnold November 04, 2010

Contract sales giant PDI acquired digital agency Group DCA, seeking to bolster its non-personal promotion capabilities.

Company news: J&J, Roche, Diversified Agency Services (DAS)

October 19, 2010

Johnson & Johnson reported third-quarter sales of $15 billion, a 0.7% decrease vs. the year-ago quarter, as weaker consumer-product sales weighed on revenue.

Pfizer buys King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion

Ben Comer October 12, 2010

Pfizer announced this morning that it will acquire King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion, the company's largest acquisition post-Wyeth. Known primarily for its tamper-resistant formulations of opioid analgesics, King Pharmaceuticals will expand Pfizer's portfolio in the pain category, adding Embeda, Avinza and the Flector Patch to Pfizer's Lyrica and Celebrex products.

Watson beefs up women's health biz, adds reps

Ben Comer July 13, 2010

Generics and specialty pharma Watson acquired a progesterone gel, marketed as Crinone and Prochieve, and added roughly 19 reps to its women's health sales force. Watson now employs close to 400 reps, according to Charlie Mayr, a company spokesperson.

GSK signed the most in-license drug deals in '08-'09

Ben Comer April 20, 2010

Of the top 10 pharma companies worldwide, GlaxoSmithKline looked beyond its own pipeline for new drugs most often, signing 67 in-licensing agreements in just two years, according to a Datamonitor analysis.

US Oncology picks up Cure magazine

Ben Comer February 18, 2010

US Oncology announced the purchase of Cure Media Group today, a move signaling an increased focus on cancer patients. US Oncology is a practice management and drug distribution firm.

IMS Health purchased for $5.2 billion

Ben Comer November 06, 2009

Marketing research giant IMS Health will be acquired by private equity firm TPG Capital and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, a Toronto-based investment management organization, for $5.2 billion.