Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s chief executive is speaking out on his company’s unsuccessful seven-month pursuit of Irvine-based drugmaker Allergan Inc.
J. Michael Pearson shared thoughts with the Financial Times in late January about Canada-based Valeant’s unsolicited run at the Botox maker that took place in conjunction with activist investor Bill Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management LP.
Valeant and Ackman, who had bought 10% of Allergan, tried to unseat a majority of Allergan’s directors and replace them with board members who would be more amenable to a sale in a battle that started last April.
Allergan spiritedly fought off Valeant and Ackman’s advances, and the saga ended in November when Actavis PLC, which is based in Dublin but operates from Parsippany, N.J., came on the scene and bought Allergan for about $70 billion.
Pearson told the Financial Times that he was naive about Valeant’s chances to win the takeover battle for Allergan.
“Part of our thesis was that no one else would come in, and we were wrong. We were looking more at the bigger companies—like Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi—and largely thinking they could pay all-cash, which we couldn’t,” Pearson told the paper.
“So when Actavis came in, I was naive and thought we had a better fit strategically—more synergies and a lower tax rate. But whenever there’s an auction, we are likely to lose, because we are so strict on price, so that was a major miscalculation.”
Pearson also touched on one of Allergan’s major attack points against Valeant: research and development spending.
Allergan and its executives accused Valeant of pursuing an unsustainable business model through slashing R&D spending.
“I think we have done a poor job about communicating our attitude to R&D. We certainly believe in innovation,” Pearson said, adding that Valeant had five drug applications approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2015 and that most of those came out of its own laboratories.
Pearson did take a shot at what the Financial Times called “revolutionary drug discovery being pursued in the labs of many big pharma companies.”
“We do less of the speculative R&D. We focus only on products that have a high probability of being approved,” he said.
FDA OKs Protocol
Irvine-based Alphaeon Corp. said the FDA agreed to protocol for the company’s third-phase clinical study of Evosyal, a botulinum toxin, to treat glabellar lines, or brow furrow.
Alphaeon is a “lifestyle healthcare” company that works with doctors to provide services and products that are not paid for by health insurance.
The company acquired the rights to Evosyal through its 2013 purchase of Santa Barbara-based Evolus Inc. It said in a statement that it has submitted an investigational new-drug application for Evosyal and completed patient enrollment over the past 12 months in a second-phase study.
Alphaeon started enrolling patients in the third-phase clinical trial last month.
Regulators’ decision “marks another key milestone on the execution of our neuromodulator development plan,” Chris Marmo, president of Alphaeon Beauty, said in a statement.
Womanology by Hoag
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian recently opened Womanology by Hoag at its Newport Beach campus.
Womanology treats pelvic floor disorders, including incontinence and painful sexual intercourse. It was previously privately owned and operated a clinic in Irvine for more than 12 years, adding a second location in Fullerton.
Founder and physical therapist Robin Christenson sold Womanology’s clinics to Hoag late last year for an undisclosed price.
Womanology by Hoag will include a team of acupuncturists, Pilates instructors, massage therapists and guided imagery therapists, said Dr. Allyson Brooks, executive medical director of Hoag Women’s Health Institute, under which the program falls.
Hoag said it also acquired Restore Him, an additional component of Womanology that focuses on men.
Bits & Pieces
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Irvine-based Quality Systems Inc., said it was among the first healthcare information technology vendors that achieved full accreditation from the Farmington, Conn.-based Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission. …. Costa Mesa-based WCCT Global said it was one of three contract research organizations that will work with Frederick, Md.-based DynPort Vaccine Co. to support clinical trials evaluating anti-infective drugs with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. WCCT Global is also working with the institute on influenza research. … Lake Forest-based Cryoport Inc. said it appointed Mark Sawicki its chief commercial officer, a new position. Sawicki was most recently chief business officer at Wilmington, N.C.-based AAIPharma Services Corp./Cambridge Major Laboratories Inc. Cryoport uses cryogenic technology to ship products, such as vaccines and stem cells, cold. … Irvine-based ResearchDx Inc. exhibited last month at the Arab Health 2015 show in Dubai. It’s a contract diagnostics organization that helps biopharmaceutical and diagnostic companies develop tests.
