Faster followers in pain

When Cephalon Inc. bought Anesta Corp. in 2000 for $444 million in stock, the main driver of the deal was Actiq transmucosal fentanyl for breakthrough cancer pain. The acquisition didn't take long to pay dividends, as Actiq sales leaped from $15 million in 2000 to $577.6 million last year. Generic versions of Actiq entered the market last year, but CEPH was ready with Fentora, a buccal fentanyl tablet that it gained via the 2004 acquisition of Cima Laboratories for $515 million in cash.

CEPH also launched its own generic version of Actiq - the company's generic OTFC is sold through Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. Nevertheless, in its 2Q07 earnings, CEPH reported sales of pain products (Actiq, generic OTFC and Fentora) dropped 24% from the 2006 period, to $131.2 million, which the company attributed to generic competition for Actiq. For the first six months, sales of CEPH's pain drugs slipped 9% to $262.7 million from $289.7 million in 1H06. ...