Biovail's brand play

Biovail Corp.'s $409.5 million purchase of North American rights to Aventis Pharmaceuticals' line of Cardizem diltiazem calcium channel blockers may look like a lot of money to spend on a group of branded generic products with declining sales. But for Biovail, the acquisition is less about absolute sales than it is about the acquisition of a well known brand name under which the company plans to launch its upcoming cardiovascular products.

Biovail (BVF; TSE:BVF, Toronto, Ontario), which was planning to launch a once-daily version of diltiazem in the first half of 2002 under its Tiazac label, now will launch that product as Cardizem XL in order to "capitalize on the value that the brand has in the marketplace," said CFO Kenneth Howling. ...