Sector News

Categories

Borderless Insights

Image
Negotiating Terms with a New Employer
Image
Beyond Flowers and Platitudes: Reclaiming the Essence of International Women’s Day
Image
Visionary or ‘Stuck-in-the-Mud’? Where are you on Workplace Flexibility?

Teva closing up women’s health unit Theramex, thanks to lousy Zoely sales

September 25, 2014
Life sciences
We’ve seen what happens when a big drug goes generic. Plants close, sales reps lose their jobs. As the impending shutdown of a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ($TEVA) unit shows, the same is true for an on-patent drug flop.
 
Theramex, a Teva women’s health unit located in Monaco, is planning to close its doors by 2016. R&D stops immediately. Teva will absorb the rest of the operation: commercial, supply chain and quality control. Almost 60 people will lose their jobs, according to the French newspaper Nice Matin, and they’re marching in the streets in protest.
 
One key reason, according to a French newspaper: the “commercial fiasco of Zoely.”
 
Zoely is a hormonal contraceptive, part of Teva’s women’s health business and among the generic giant’s short list of branded products. The Israel-based company acquired it along with Theramex in 2010, in a deal with Merck KGaA. When approved in Europe in 2011, Zoely was touted as a “natural” alternative to other combo pills, because the synthetic estrogen included is structurally identical to that produced by women’s bodies.
 
Later, Teva teamed up with Merck & Co. to develop Zoely in the U.S. But at the end of 2011, the FDA issued a complete response letter on the pill. Merck later launched a new trial of the drug, under the name NOMAC-E2, to check up on its efficacy and assess patterns of vaginal bleeding.
 
That study was wrapped up earlier this year, but the results haven’t been released. Meanwhile, the U.K.’s cost-effectiveness gatekeepers have said that the drug is most likely to be used as a second- or third-line option in “a small subgroup of women” who’ve found other combo pills unsuitable.
 
Teva has been on a cost-cutting drive, aiming to chop $2 billion from its cost base by 2017. But under new CEO Erez Vigodman, the company says it’s focusing on the positive. Its CFO, Eyal Desheh, recently said another round of cuts “will be counterproductive to growth.”
 
By Tracy Staton
 

comments closed

Related News

April 26, 2024

Former Bristol Myers CEO tapped as Novartis’ next board chair

Life sciences

Giovanni Caforio, the former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, is set to become the next board chairman of Novartis, which on Tuesday proposed the pharmaceutical industry veteran as its pick to replace Joerg Reinhardt in the role next year. Reinhardt has served as Novartis’ chair since 2013 and plans to retire when his 12-year term ends in 2025.

Read more
April 26, 2024

GE HealthCare launches voice-activated, AI-powered ultrasound machines for women’s health

Life sciences

GE HealthCare has raised the curtain on two ultrasound systems equipped with artificial intelligence programs designed to assist in diagnosing conditions in women’s health, including obstetric exams. The Voluson Signature 20 and 18 imaging systems include AI tools capable of automatically identifying and annotating measurements of fetal anatomy.

Read more
April 26, 2024

Scientists reveal new method that could reduce waste from drug manufacturing

Life sciences

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry have revealed a new sustainable method of manufacturing complex molecules that could reduce waste produced during drug production. The method published in Nature Chemistry could help to prevent severe side effects caused by drugs that can exist as enantiomers.

Read more
More news

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach