Company to Acquire Minority Interest in New Entity ALLEGAN, Mich., May 21
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
