Monetizing Sano
In 1997, Elan Corp. plc placed a $375 million bet on Sano Corp. in an acquisition designed to add late-stage products to ELN's pipeline and strengthen its transdermal drug delivery technology. One of those late-stage products - a smoking cessation patch - now looks unlikely to pan out, but the company believes that other products in the Sano pipeline will more than pay for the acquisition.
Preliminary data from three Phase III studies of Sano's transdermal patch containing a combination of nicotine and mecamylamine failed to show a statistically significant difference against the Habitrol nicotine-alone patch, made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Consumer Health Inc. (Summit, N.J.). The company plans to review the final results to determine whether or not to redesign Phase III studies...