Company to Acquire Minority Interest in New Entity
ALLEGAN, Mich., May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Perrigo Company
(Nasdaq: PRGO; TASE) today announced that it has entered into a
collaborative agreement with Cobrek Pharmaceuticals, a newly formed entity
of Pentech Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately owned company that specializes
in the research and development of niche generic dosage forms. Pentech will
contribute its ANDA filing for a generic equivalent to Luxiq(R) foam, a $34
million branded pharmaceutical product, to the agreement. Perrigo will
contribute two of its early stage generic topical pipeline products. The
parties will share the development costs and profits generated by these
products, with Perrigo being the exclusive distributor.
Pentech filed its ANDA for Luxiq foam containing a Paragraph IV
Certification with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and notified
Connetics, the New Drug Application holder for the brand product. On
November 6, 2007, Connetics filed suit alleging patent infringement in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to
prevent Pentech from proceeding with the commercialization of its product.
The lawsuit formally initiated the patent process under the Hatch-Waxman
Act. Pentech believes that it is the first to file an ANDA with a Paragraph
IV certification against Luxiq and Perrigo believes that it will be the
first company to market this product.
Perrigo will also invest $12.5 million in cash in Cobrek in exchange
for a minority ownership position. Pentech will contribute to Cobrek all of
its interests in current and future ANDA filings including a potential
first-to-file on a generic version of Hectorol (Doxercalciferol).
Commenting on the announcement, Perrigo Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, Joe Papa, stated, "Cobrek will utilize its proven ability to
develop niche generic products while capitalizing on Perrigo's marketing
and distribution capabilities. This strategic collaborative agreement and
investment enhances our existing U.S. product portfolio and future
pipeline, demonstrating our on-going commitment to the generic prescription
dermatological space. We believe that these new and future products will
expand Perrigo's leadership position in this category and provide an
opportunity for us to improve returns on one of our core businesses. We
look to identify more such opportunities in the future."
Perrigo Company is a leading global healthcare supplier that develops,
manufactures and distributes over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription
pharmaceuticals, nutritional products, active pharmaceutical ingredients
(API) and consumer products. The Company is the world's largest
manufacturer of OTC pharmaceutical products for the store brand market. The
Company's primary markets and locations of manufacturing facilities are the
United States, Israel, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Visit Perrigo on the
Internet (http://www.perrigo.com).
Pentech Pharmaceuticals, formed in 1993, is a prescription
pharmaceuticals development company, whose strategy is to seek out special
situations in the pharmaceutical industry, paying particular attention to
the changing healthcare requirements of an aging population. Special
emphasis is placed on finding products and market niches which offer strong
revenue potential, limited competitive pressure, and extended product life
cycles. As a rule, Pentech limits its activities to the validation of its
products through internally conducted scientific, market and legal
research, while seeking partnerships with larger, more established
companies such as Perrigo to execute clinical, marketing and manufacturing
functions. Prior to the transaction described in this release, Pentech's
past successes under its strategy included apomorphine HCL, a proprietary
erectile dysfunction drug licensed to TAP, and generic Paxil, the subject
of a joint manufacturing and marketing arrangement with Par
Pharmaceuticals. Visit Pentech on the Internet (http://www.pentechinc.com).
Note: Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby.
These statements relate to future events or the Company's future financial
performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance
or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some
cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate,"
"intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or other comparable
terminology. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its
current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the
Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections
are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond
the Company's control. These and other important factors, including those
discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year
ended June 30, 2007, as well as the Company's subsequent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, may cause actual results, performance
or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this
press release are made only as of the date hereof, and unless otherwise
required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention
or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Perrigo Company
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Related links:
http://www.perrigo.com
http://www.pentechinc.com
CONTACT:
Arthur J. Shannon, Vice President, Investor
Relations and Communication of Perrigo Company, +1-269-686-1709,
ajshannon@perrigo.com
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