Upper Management Update - UBU Update

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Anonymous

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Sam Saks, Dave Hirsch, Ed Luuuuuuker, and a host of in-house big shots running Jazz Pharma. Early in the story, could be a feel good "sleeper" hit in the next 24-36 months. Yes, that's right, Dave reports to Ed.

Mike Miller at Genentech. Bio-tech that does not want to admit is now "bio-pharma". Mike's responsibility will be successful.

Pete Smith - Biogen-IDEC managing partner for England-Ireland; Cool. Get in my Belly!

S. Small - Using her Pharmacist skills in the Medical Department of GTX, a uro related concern in Memphis TN. It is not a sure thing, but if it hits Susan has positioned herself to be "The Man" when the sales force is built out.

J. McKinney - Rags to Riches to Rats; OMP FSD to Boehringer RD to Boehringer DM to flipping houses in Boca Raton.

J. Liguori - RD at ICOS, slogging through the muck one step at a time.

B. Dockery - Indevus?

A. Fregoso - OMP still?

D DeForge - ?

B. Hood - Gilead? Sales Ops?

S. Schiller - In a cruel twist of fate now working, after the Abbot near hit, for Robert Altman at Astellas (as a RD/NSD?) Pray for her soul.

R. Janosky has left Jazz pharma recently.

E. Mayer has left Connetics and left Genentech. Any truth to the rumor he is managing a women's bladder health clinic in Milpitas? Sorry.

R. Selby - Indevus?

J Tucker - Wondering what hit him at Indevus.

B. Sala - Banging anything that moves (slower than him, not a pretty thought) in South Florida. Again, sorry; this is funny stuff.

B. Flannelly - rapidly becoming a Skilled Nursing Facility Magnate on the West Coast of Florida.

P. Akabane - Connetics?

K. Okada - Jazz?

Joan in the Great NW - no idea, but would think she would be perfect in a reality series.

M. Bowman - MLC; has opened a womens blue jean boutique. Really.

C. Ferkany - ICOS DM; Go Bucks. Go Pugs.

G. Tinelli - ?

R. Pearce - Astellas Urology DM

G Shuler - Urology supply distributor in the SE US.

M. Bordeaux - You have never seen Mary and Karl Rove in the same place at the same time. Think about it. It could be true.

Oncology Folks - Where are you

B. Donfield
D. Runtz
A. Butler
A. Burnette (afraid to ask)
P. Wilkes
etc etc etc


RTA!
 
























I just have to post a "love letter" to ALZA....I worked there for 4 years in Marketing and Clinical from 1996-2000....left because I had twins that came very prematurely. Completely LOVED the company, thought the Sales Force rocked!!! What a great group, with a great leader (Jay, that's you), and Dan Swisher did a bang-up job in Marketing. Sam was "the real deal". Anyway, I've worked in a few big pharma companies, and consult now for them and never have I seen a company have as good of a corporate culture as ALZA.
 








Anonymous said:
I just have to post a "love letter" to ALZA....I worked there for 4 years in Marketing and Clinical from 1996-2000....left because I had twins that came very prematurely. Completely LOVED the company, thought the Sales Force rocked!!! What a great group, with a great leader (Jay, that's you), and Dan Swisher did a bang-up job in Marketing. Sam was "the real deal". Anyway, I've worked in a few big pharma companies, and consult now for them and never have I seen a company have as good of a corporate culture as ALZA.
Click to expand...

as i've been told by recruiters ... no one can win the loto twice. it's sucks because ALZA was my first direct pharma job. ALZA promoted me to urology.

i hate ALZA for spoiling me because now i hate all other companies and i love ALZA for spoiling me because they showed me that companies can treat their reps better.
 








Anonymous said:
as i've been told by recruiters ... no one can win the loto twice. it's sucks because ALZA was my first direct pharma job. ALZA promoted me to urology.

i hate ALZA for spoiling me because now i hate all other companies and i love ALZA for spoiling me because they showed me that companies can treat their reps better.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this rep. Alza was my first and will always be the best. Every other company I have worked for has never stacked up to my experiences here. If anyone ever comes acroos something similar they have
a great thing going for them.
 








Indevus Appoints Industry Veteran Kurt Lewis as Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing
Friday June 29, 8:00 am ET


LEXINGTON, Mass., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDEV - News) today announced Kurt W. Lewis has been appointed Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, replacing John H. Tucker, who will be leaving the Company to accept a position as President and General Manager, North America, for an international biotechnology company.
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Mr. Lewis brings nearly 25 years of pharmaceutical sales and marketing experience to Indevus. Most recently, Mr. Lewis was the Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for Astellas Pharma U.S., Inc. where he was responsible for the successful launch of several global brands, including the overactive bladder treatment, VESIcare®. In his role, Mr. Lewis built and managed a 650 person sales force that generated over $1.3 billion in annual sales in multiple therapeutic areas. During his 15 year career with Astellas, Mr. Lewis held a variety of senior sales and marketing positions and successfully led the growth of multiple products into market leaders including Prograf®, Adenoscan® and AmBisome®. In addition, he has managed numerous strategic alliances and co-promotion partnerships as well as implemented multiple programs to successfully compete with significantly larger competitors. Prior to his tenure with Astellas, Mr. Lewis spent more than 8 years in a variety of sales and marketing positions with Ortho Pharmaceutical and was one of the founding employees of Ortho Biotech, a division of Johnson & Johnson.

"We are very pleased to welcome a person of Kurt's caliber to the Indevus management team," stated Glenn L. Cooper, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Indevus. "Over the next two years, Indevus will be launching several new products and we have the opportunity to experience significant growth. Kurt brings a tremendous amount of experience in growing and managing large sales and marketing organizations. Kurt's specific experience in urology and the overactive bladder market, as well his knowledge of the SANCTURA franchise, will be extremely valuable."

"Although we are sorry to see John Tucker leave Indevus, he leaves us fully prepared for future success. John built our sales and marketing organization from scratch and we are gratified that he has developed a sophisticated department with strong leadership in all key sales and marketing functions," continued Dr. Cooper. "With our launch this week of SUPPRELIN LA for central precocious puberty and our anticipated launch later this year of SANCTURA XR for overactive bladder and Valstar for bladder cancer, we are well-positioned for commercial success. We wish John the best of luck in his exciting new career opportunity."

About Indevus

Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the acquisition, development and commercialization of products to treat conditions in urology and endocrinology. The Company's marketed products include SANCTURA® for overactive bladder, VANTAS® for advanced prostate cancer, DELATESTRYL® to treat male hypogonadism and SUPPRELIN® LA, for central precocious puberty. The Indevus development pipeline contains multiple compounds within the Company's core therapeutic areas in addition to several partnered or partnerable programs. The most advanced compounds in development include SANCTURA XR(TM), the once-daily formulation of SANCTURA, VALSTAR® for bladder cancer, NEBIDO® for male hypogonadism, PRO 2000 for the prevention of infection by HIV and other sexually-transmitted pathogens, and pagoclone for stuttering.

Forward Looking Statements

Except for the descriptions of historical facts contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are set forth in the Company's filings under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere, and include, but are not limited to: dependence on the success of SANCTURA®, SANCTURA XR(TM), NEBIDO® , VANTAS® and SUPPRELIN® LA; the early state of products under development; uncertainties relating to clinical trials, regulatory approval and commercialization of our products, particularly SANCTURA XR, NEBIDO, VANTAS®, SUPPRELIN® LA and VALSTAR®; risks associated with contractual agreements, particularly for the manufacture and co-promotion of SANCTURA and SANCTURA XR and the manufacture of NEBIDO, VANTAS and VALSTAR; dependence on third parties for supplies, particularly for histrelin, manufacturing, marketing, and clinical trials; competition; need for additional funds and corporate partners, including for the development of our products; failure to acquire and develop additional product candidates; changes in reimbursement policies and/or rates for SANCTURA, VANTAS, DELATESTRYL and any future products; history of operating losses and expectation of future losses; product liability and insurance uncertainties; risks relating to the Redux- related litigation; the risk that the businesses of Indevus and Valera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will not be integrated successfully during the period following the related merger; the risk that the cost savings and any other synergies from the merger may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; market acceptance for the merger and approved products; risks of regulatory review and clinical trials; disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; competition and its effect on pricing, spending, third-party relationships and revenues; reliance on intellectual property and having limited patents and proprietary rights; dependence on market exclusivity, valuation of our Common Stock; risks related to repayment of debts; risks related to increased leverage; general worldwide economic conditions and related uncertainties; the effect of changes in governmental regulations and other risks. Indevus undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
 




Negative stories set Jazz Pharmaceuticals IPO off on a bad note

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - June 8, 2007by Sara Solovitch

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. thought it had all its ducks lined up for a successful IPO: a commercial drug already approved and in the market, several Phase III drugs in the pipeline, growing revenue sales.

All looked good, until news stories linked its lead drug -- a narcolepsy medication called Xyrem -- with date rape and overdose deaths.

Instead of sailing to IPO heaven, the Palo Alto company slashed its $179.4 million price by a fifth, faster than you can say gamma hydroxybutyrate -- better known as GHB, the so-called "date rape drug."

Analysts say the disappointing show by Jazz reflects a number of problems, not least the fact that the company's valuation was greater than usual for an IPO.

"I definitely believe that neuropsychotropics are an interesting way to go," says Charles Duncan, a biotech analyst with JMP Securities Inc. in New York. "But they're not the only smart guys to think of that.

"They got their lead drug after buying Orphan Medical for less than $100 million a couple years ago. And what have they done to significantly add value to that product?"

Instead of almost $180 million, the company raised a disappointing $108 million, which almost guarantees that executives are going to have to grit their collective teeth and return for another round of fundraising within a year or two.

It didn't help that on May 31, the very day Jazz went public, an article in the New York Times reminded investors that its main drug was listed by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule 1 drug, in the same category as heroin.

"Is a pharmaceutical company whose biggest-selling drug is considered as dangerous as heroin or LSD a good investment?" the newspaper asked.

"The story that one of their flagship drugs had the potential for abuse and liability was just too much for people to take comfortably," says Ben Holmes, publisher of Morning Notes.com, an IPO research firm based in Boulder, Colo.

"Here's a drug that's not just prone to abuse but has the words 'date rape' attached to it," he continues. "That does not sit well. We have a very information savvy group of investors today that we didn't have 15 years ago, and things like that have a much greater impact than they once would have."

In a sign of weakening demand, Jazz priced its offering of 6 million shares at $18, a 28 percent discount from its initially proposed $24 to $26 range, which had been cut to $20 to $21 earlier that day.

According to Holmes, the company's management team may have underestimated the power of the press.

"I don't think they appreciated the press they were getting," says Holmes. "If they did anticipate the press getting hold of that information they could have done a better job in their disclosures."

In its SEC filings, the company did acknowledge the investigation being pursued against it by the U.S. Attorney's office in New York. That investigation, which includes an indictment against a psychiatrist who worked for Jazz, promoted its drug, Xyrem, for off-label purposes, and claimed it was safer than salt, "is likely to result in fines."

In fact, it went on to say that the settlement being discussed could result in one felony count of introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce -- and involve $20.5 million in fines.

That's no small potatoes for a company which is already bleeding "significant net losses," according to the prospectus: $59.4 million in 2006, and $19.6 million in the first quarter of 2007. As of March 31, the company's debt amounted to $83.1 million.

Nor can the company expect to recoup its losses from the sale of its lead drug. The narcolepsy market is small, estimated at only 120,000 patients, and sales of Xyrem were just $29 million in 2006.

Jazz is working with a pipeline of niche psychiatric and neurological conditions. Besides Xyrem, which is also in clinical trials for the treatment of fibromyalgia, it markets Antizol, an antidote for ethylene glycol and methanol poisoning.

Jazz has also acquired US marketing rights to Solvay Pharmaceuticals' Luvox, an investigational treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder.

As bloggers noted, the company's management team is a more or less intact version of the old star team of Alza Corp., the Mountain View drug manufacturer that came out of nowhere to become one of the key biotech players in the valley, before being acquired by Johnson & Johnson Inc. in 2000.

"Essentially the claim is "because we're Alza, we're worth it," says Michael Schuppenhauer, a biotech consultant in Half Moon Bay.

With the valuation down, the company is now $50 million short of what they bargained for, meaning that they will now have to cut or slow down programs or back to market soon at possibly detrimental valuations.

"It's the eternal biotech problem," says Schuppenhauer. "With a burn rate of $80 million in the last year, $100 million is going to get them a year and a half. You don't have as much as you need, you have to cut projects, cut corners, and inflate your PR machine. It's not good for the company."

Sara Solovitch covers health and biotech business for the Business Journal. Reach her at (408) 299-1841.
 




Anonymous said:
Sam Saks, Dave Hirsch, Ed Luuuuuuker, and a host of in-house big shots running Jazz Pharma. Early in the story, could be a feel good "sleeper" hit in the next 24-36 months. Yes, that's right, Dave reports to Ed.

Mike Miller at Genentech. Bio-tech that does not want to admit is now "bio-pharma". Mike's responsibility will be successful.

Pete Smith - Biogen-IDEC managing partner for England-Ireland; Cool. Get in my Belly!

S. Small - Using her Pharmacist skills in the Medical Department of GTX, a uro related concern in Memphis TN. It is not a sure thing, but if it hits Susan has positioned herself to be "The Man" when the sales force is built out.

J. McKinney - Rags to Riches to Rats; OMP FSD to Boehringer RD to Boehringer DM to flipping houses in Boca Raton.

J. Liguori - RD at ICOS, slogging through the muck one step at a time.

B. Dockery - Indevus?

A. Fregoso - OMP still?

D DeForge - ?

B. Hood - Gilead? Sales Ops?

S. Schiller - In a cruel twist of fate now working, after the Abbot near hit, for Robert Altman at Astellas (as a RD/NSD?) Pray for her soul.

R. Janosky has left Jazz pharma recently.

E. Mayer has left Connetics and left Genentech. Any truth to the rumor he is managing a women's bladder health clinic in Milpitas? Sorry.

R. Selby - Indevus?

J Tucker - Wondering what hit him at Indevus.

B. Sala - Banging anything that moves (slower than him, not a pretty thought) in South Florida. Again, sorry; this is funny stuff.

B. Flannelly - rapidly becoming a Skilled Nursing Facility Magnate on the West Coast of Florida.

P. Akabane - Connetics?

K. Okada - Jazz?

Joan in the Great NW - no idea, but would think she would be perfect in a reality series.

M. Bowman - MLC; has opened a womens blue jean boutique. Really.

C. Ferkany - ICOS DM; Go Bucks. Go Pugs.

G. Tinelli - ?

R. Pearce - Astellas Urology DM

G Shuler - Urology supply distributor in the SE US.

M. Bordeaux - You have never seen Mary and Karl Rove in the same place at the same time. Think about it. It could be true.

Oncology Folks - Where are you

B. Donfield
D. Runtz
A. Butler
A. Burnette (afraid to ask)
P. Wilkes
etc etc etc


RTA!
Click to expand...

How about another update?
 








Anonymous said:
Sam Saks, Dave Hirsch, Ed Luuuuuuker, and a host of in-house big shots running Jazz Pharma. Early in the story, could be a feel good "sleeper" hit in the next 24-36 months. Yes, that's right, Dave reports to Ed.

Mike Miller at Genentech. Bio-tech that does not want to admit is now "bio-pharma". Mike's responsibility will be successful.

Pete Smith - Biogen-IDEC managing partner for England-Ireland; Cool. Get in my Belly!

S. Small - Using her Pharmacist skills in the Medical Department of GTX, a uro related concern in Memphis TN. It is not a sure thing, but if it hits Susan has positioned herself to be "The Man" when the sales force is built out.

J. McKinney - Rags to Riches to Rats; OMP FSD to Boehringer RD to Boehringer DM to flipping houses in Boca Raton.

J. Liguori - RD at ICOS, slogging through the muck one step at a time.

B. Dockery - Indevus?

A. Fregoso - OMP still?

D DeForge - ?

B. Hood - Gilead? Sales Ops?

S. Schiller - In a cruel twist of fate now working, after the Abbot near hit, for Robert Altman at Astellas (as a RD/NSD?) Pray for her soul.

R. Janosky has left Jazz pharma recently.

E. Mayer has left Connetics and left Genentech. Any truth to the rumor he is managing a women's bladder health clinic in Milpitas? Sorry.

R. Selby - Indevus?

J Tucker - Wondering what hit him at Indevus.

B. Sala - Banging anything that moves (slower than him, not a pretty thought) in South Florida. Again, sorry; this is funny stuff.

B. Flannelly - rapidly becoming a Skilled Nursing Facility Magnate on the West Coast of Florida.

P. Akabane - Connetics?

K. Okada - Jazz?

Joan in the Great NW - no idea, but would think she would be perfect in a reality series.

M. Bowman - MLC; has opened a womens blue jean boutique. Really.

C. Ferkany - ICOS DM; Go Bucks. Go Pugs.

G. Tinelli - ?

R. Pearce - Astellas Urology DM

G Shuler - Urology supply distributor in the SE US.

M. Bordeaux - You have never seen Mary and Karl Rove in the same place at the same time. Think about it. It could be true.

Oncology Folks - Where are you

B. Donfield
D. Runtz
A. Butler
A. Burnette (afraid to ask)
P. Wilkes
etc etc etc


RTA!
Click to expand...

You got the J McKinney update dead on accurate. I had the misfortune of meeting him @ BI, I'm so glad the real estate market is tanking in So.Fla! I told you so!!!!
 
















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