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Cephalon prepares for multiple drug launches

Date published: 20/12/2005

Biotechnology firm Cephalon is planning four drug launches for 2006, Reuters has reported. CEO Frank Baldino told the news agency that he was confident that the four drugs would gain regulatory approval. They include treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), excessive sleepiness, cancer pain and alcohol dependence.

Three of the drugs are expected to be allowed on the market place by the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of January. The company has begun to look for help to co-ordinate its sales and marketing strategies for the launches, and has already agreed a link up with Johnson & Johnson to help market its ADHD treatment Sparlon.

"Would I have preferred to have a year in between each of these? Probably. But it's a nice problem to have," said Mr Baldino. "The challenge with us in '06 is execution? Can we launch all these drugs successfully?"

However, Cephalon is facing patent challenges to its sleeping disorder drug Provigil. Whilst it is currently waiting approval for follow up drug Nuvigil, generic manufacturers could stake a slice from Cephalon's profits if lawsuits are successful in 2006.

But Mr Baldino remained confident: "The board agreed to spend a lot more money on research and development in the past few years so that we can have all these opportunities in '06 and '07 to mitigate the generic threat." "If the generic threat disappears because we win the litigation or settle, then this becomes a tremendous upside for the shareholders," he added.

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