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AstraZeneca's thyroid cancer drug launches
WILMINGTON, Del. — Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca has made the drug vandetanib available to certain thyroid cancer patients.
The drug maker announced Monday that the drug would be available to patients with medullary thyroid cancer that could not be removed surgically or that had spread to other parts of the body. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug on April 6, and it is available exclusively through the pharmacy business unit of Biologics Inc., an integrated cancer management company.
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Valeant issues letter to Cephalon stockholders
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is taking its case directly to Cephalon’s shareholders in its effort to acquire the Frazer, Pa.-based drug maker.
In a letter to the shareholders Thursday, Valeant said its $73-per-share offer, totaling $5.7 billion, was a 29% premium over the 30-day stock price of Cephalon, noting that the price had declined over the last five years and that the average stock price in the month before the offer was $57, which Wall Street analysts didn’t expect to rise above $60.