Deals of the Week, Arlo, Ellen, and Eleven Billion Reasons to Invest in Biotechs

No 'official' Deals of the Week post this week, but we wanted to drop in and wish all stateside and US expat IVB readers a Happy Thanksgiving. The rest of you too -- enjoy either a long, turkey-scented weekend or a couple of quiet days before Saturday.

We'll be back next week with the launch of this year's Deals of the Year competition. For now our only deal-related comment is this: Eleven Billion Dollars for a Phase II Biotech? Eleven Billion Dollars for a Phase II Biotech.

Meanwhile, enjoy IVB's take on an old classic. And join us in wishing well Ellen Licking, who's off for challenges anew and who among much else wrote the parody below that we dust off each Thanksgiving week. In Vivo magazine readers will continue to see her by-line now and then, but we'll miss her around the virtual office and in our small, hopefully sharp, and sometimes sarcastic corner of the internet. All the best. --CM
  This post is called Deals of the Week, and it's about deals, and the week, but Deals of the Week is not the name of the blog, that's just the name of the post. And that's why I called the post Deals of the Week.

Now it all started four Thanksgivings ago; it was four years ago on Thanksgiving, when Chris Morrison and I started writin' a blog about deals, but not every day, just once a week. And writin' about deals once a week, you know it's a lot of work. (Hint. Hint.)

And there's a lot of garbage you gotta sift through, but we decided it would be a friendly gesture on behalf of readers. So we trolled around the Internet with our shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction (a.k.a. EBI's Strategic Transactions database) looking for deals to analyze. But then a big bad editor (also known as Officer Roger) said why are you doin' that? We are closed on Thanksgiving.

And we had never heard of a blog closed on Thanksgiving before (we don't get out much) so with tears in our eyes we drove off into the sunset looking for another place to dump our garbage -- I mean our deals.

We didn't find one. So we wrote our post anyway, went back and had a Thanksgiving Day that couldn't be beat, went to sleep, and didn't get up until the next morning when we got a call from Officer Roger... And it's been a recurring feature here at IVB ever since.

But fortunately, not another case of American blind justice since we always arrive at the truth of the matter and it doesn't even require 27 eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.

In honor of the day, we hope you consider joining the IN VIVO Blog Movement. All you've got to do is walk into the office wherever you are, just walk in and say ,"You can get anything you want at IN VIVO Blog." And walk out.

You know if one person, just one person does it, they might think he's really sick and they won't take him... And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day (okay, we'd really like 1000) walking in, quoting a line from IN VIVO Blog and walking out?

And friends, they might think its a movement. And that's what it is, the IN VIVO Blog Movement.

Remember Deals of the Week? (This is a post about Deals of the Week.)

Without further ado, we bring you this week's installment. Feel free to sing along in four-part harmony. With feeling. Cuz'...

You can get anything you want at IN VIVO Blog.
You can get anything you want at IN VIVO Blog.
Log right in, it's a click away.
Just a finger tap. You don't have to pay.
You can get anything you want at IN VIVO Blog. (Excepting Roger.)

IVB's Top Ten Posts of 2009

Happy New Year, dear readers. We know that you know that we know that you love lists, so we got you one to ring in 2010.

Lists are fun! And so here's a list of our most read blog posts from 2009. What set your hearts aflutter? Drug approvals and launches, Clerks parodies, and the demise of the pharmaceutical sales rep. Oh, and a little thing called our DEAL OF THE YEAR competition. Have a look as we count 'em down, Late-Show style.

And if you haven't voted in this year's DOTY competition, the polls are open until the end of today, Monday January 4. Get thee to the ballot box!

10. Novo Confident of Victoza Victory at FDA in May. (March 5.) The odds might appear to be stacked against it, but Novo Nordisk sounds remarkably confident that GLP-1 analog liraglutide (Victoza) will get approval from FDA by the end of May.

9. Pfizer Deceives While GSK Shines. (June 12.) Pfizer has apparently held back clinical trial data for its anti-depressant reboxetine (known in Germany as Edronax) from IQWiG, Germany's drug-benefit assessment agency, leading the agency to declare "no proof of benefit" in its preliminary report.

8. FDA Commissioner Update: Announcement Timing Provides Clues. (February 2.) Comments out of the White House that an announcement is imminent on President Obama’s choice for FDA commissioner indicate the pick is someone who has already been thoroughly vetted.

7. The Effient Launch: Cracking the Door to Primary Care Marketing. (July 31.) So will personalized medicine be the death of primary care? Maybe not. Maybe just the opposite.

6. Are More Rent-A-Reps On the Way? (January 21.) That's what Deutsche Bank analyst Barbara Ryan suggests in an investor note after digesting the news that Pfizer is cutting about 2,400 sales reps, or roughly one-third of its sales force, as part of its ongoing downsizing.

5. FDA Commish to Employees: Keep Quiet or Else! (March 16.) Frank Torti, the acting FDA commissioner, has an important message for all agency employees--you won't make a peep if you know what's good for you.

4. What's Wrong with Pharma? One Answer from JP Morgan (January 14.) Sunday night we attended what we now think of as the kickoff to the JP Morgan meeting, the extraordinary concentration of biotech/pharma movers and shakers which is the MPM Capital dinner at San Francisco’s Ferry Building.

3. Imagining Lunch with Dick Clark (March 10.) Merck Cafeteria Clerk: Oh, uh, hi Mr. Clark. OK let’s see, diet coke, turkey sandwich, kettle chips, ooh those are good. Have you tried the angry chili flavor? That’ll be $12.35, sir. Dick Clark: Just hold on a second there [sends blackberry message to general counsel] ... Hi. No i prefer the unsalted. Better for the ticker. Anyway ... [checks blackberry] ... OK, see, I’d like to structure this transaction so that my lunch buys me.

2. Don't Come Knockin' On My Door (February 13.) The pharma industry doesn’t need more stats to tell it that knocking on doors doesn’t work any more, but some new figures blast that cold reality. (A comprehensive review of what needs fixing in pharma's commercial model is in the December IN VIVO. Our take on Merck's stab at reinvigorating its commercial presence is here.)

1. And the Nominees for IN VIVO Blog's Deal of the Year Are ... (December 22, 2008.) It's time to have your say, IN VIVO Blog readers! Our poll for the Deal of the Year is now live. Please vote. Get your friends and colleagues and families to vote. Tell strangers to vote too, if you like.

IN VIVO Blog Enters the Terrible Twos

awww, you didn't have to bake us a steak

That's right gang, The IN VIVO Blog's birthday is upon us. Yes we've been posting since 2006 (see here for some no-frills IVB nostalgia) but it has been just over two years since we pulled back the curtain. We'll try to keep the tantrums to a minimum. Promise.

As always, thanks for reading, commenting, linking and heckling. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

image from flickrer This Year's Love used under a creative commons license.

IVB Enters the Modern Blogging Era: Podcasts, Twitter, and More

Photo by Timothy K. Hamilton

Ever thought to yourself, "you know self, that IN VIVO Blog is terrific, boy it sure is. But wouldn't it be great if it was even more terrific?" Before you reproach yourself for being greedy, well, never fear, we're going to give it a shot.

And so, dear readers, you may start to notice a few little changes around these parts. For example: twitter. Yup, no longer will your urge for 140-character IVB-gems go unfulfilled. Starting yesterday, you can follow us on twitter. And for those of you who visit the blog on the web, you'll see our recent twitters (tweets? Sorry, we're new to the whole bird-lingo thing) right there on the home page--just check out the right-hand column.---->

Oh, but that's not all. Starting next week we're going to be experimenting with a regular podcast. Look for it on Wednesdays (but probably not every Wednesday, at least not right away), we'll post it right here on the blog. The IVB Podcast will cover the same range of topics we cover here on the site and we're happy to entertain your suggestions for topics as well, just leave a comment or drop us a line.

So to recap our ongoing plans for eventual world domination (or at the very least, for catching up with well-established social media and blogging trends): this week, we're starting to twitter. Next week, the podcasting begins. The week after that? Who knows. As always, we love reader feedback (special thanks to those of you who took our survey a couple weeks back, especially if you were nice or wanted more Philly sports commentary with your health care analysis and insight--shockingly not everyone was/did!) so keep sending in suggestions on how to improve IN VIVO Blog.

And thanks for reading.

UPDATE 3/17: We're now running multiple twitter feeds @invivoblogchris, @invivoblogellen, @rpmreportmike, and @rpmreportramsey

It's the Post Where We Give Away Free 3-Month Subscriptions to Our Premium Content If You Fill Out a Short Survey

"Survey Says!?"

Ever thought to yourself, hey this IN VIVO Blog thing is just chock-full of sweet bloggy goodness, but I wish I could subscribe to IN VIVO magazine? Or The Pink Sheet? Or RPM? Or Start-Up? Or another one of the fine publications within the FDC-Windhover / Elsevier Business Intelligence fold? (Oh, there are many fine publications.)

Well, now you can. For free! Sort of.

Of course there's a very small catch. We'd like you to take a couple minutes to fill out a quick survey. See, nearly two years into this blogging experiment we are starting to wonder what you think of us. Does our ass look big in this blog? Go on, tell us. It only takes five minutes or so, and as a thank you we'd like to offer a free three-month subscription to the FDC-W / EBI publication of your choice.

ITS THAT SIMPLE. You can do it. Click the link, and take the survey. We know you can.

While You Were Joking

Yes we know that the anti-hero that has taken the cinema world by storm this weekend is The Joker, but indulge us as we play The Riddler for a quick and question-filled weekend roundup:

• What's up with Roche? The Swiss pharma has moved its earnings report up from Thursday to Monday. No reason was given for the change. We suppose by the time you read this we'll know if there was any drama. (UPDATE: Roche is offering to buy the 44% of Genentech that it doesn't already own. Pricetag? For now it's $43.7 billion.)


• What happened to Pharma Giles?


• Why did Shire cross the Irish Sea? (To get to the lower taxes.)


• When is it Shark Week? Not yet, Greg Norman.

While You Were All Growed Up

We've passed a milestone. Although if you go back and check you can find a few dozen earlier posts stretching back to late 2006, this weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the official launch of IN VIVO Blog. On April 26, 2007 we posted twice--two takes on Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s blockbuster deal with Pfizer on apixaban and its hybrid biotech/pharma strategy--and decided to pull back the curtain on our fledgling blogging efforts.

The response has been encouraging. Thanks to everyone who reads us on the web, subscribes (it's free!), links over, comments (we wish there were more--you can do it anonymously!), and/or mocks our sports team allegiences. We really do appreciate you dropping by.

So even though there was plenty of news out of ARVO and EASL this weekend lets highlight some sweet bloggy goodness for your weekend roundup:

• When Patent Baristas isn't dreaming up ways to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day 2008 (that explains all the drunken patent attorneys on Saturday) it's laying down the serious analysis. Friday the blog dispelled some myths about the difficulties of biotech co/university tech transfer.
  
• Derek Lowe takes another look at GSK/Sirtris and the ally-vs-buy question, from the GSK employee point of view and through the historic prism of Glaxo's nuclear receptor R&D push that yielded, well, not much.
  
• After a year of blogging over at VentureBeat Life Sciences, David Hamilton has new digs--check out his new Pharma Industry page at Bnet. (h/t pharmagossip)


• If you're not reading Pharma Giles, you're missing out on some hilarious skewering of the pharma world. This morning the target is off-label promotion.


• And finally, stop by IN VIVO Blog later today (hey, that's us!) for our take on the latest setback for the Merck/Schering-Plough joint venture, FDA's Friday night smackdown of the Singulair/Claritin NDA.

milestone photo by flickr user robw1882 used under a creative commons license.

While You Were Stormin' the Floor

Well there's something you don't see every day: some floor-storming at Newman Arena! Over the weekend with victories against Dartmouth and Harvard (yes, the cheaters) Cornell wrapped up its first Ivy title and NCAA tournament berth in 20 years. Plenty of coverage here. The pundits are predicting a 13- or a 14-seed for the Big Red. In other news ...

• The Times' science correspondent Mark Henderson gets genotyped in the interests of sciencetainment. His weapon of choice, deCODE's deCODEme service, turns out to have its ups and downs, says Henderson, but overall he seems comfortable and satisfied with the process. Here's what a panel of experts say about Henderson's experience, along with some responses from deCODE CEO Kari Stefansson.


• Solvay to Teva: 'Git orffff my lawwnnn!!'


• MGI Pharma gets a big label-expanding approval for Aloxi in post-operative nausea and vomiting. The news capped a trio of positive regulatory announcements for parent Eisai; before the Aloxi news Eisai noted Japanese approval for Vasolan in arterial fibrillation and said FDA had granted its proton-pump inhibitor Aciphex priority review for treating the paper route set.
  
• J&J's Centocor has launched a corporate blog, news of which we first saw on Pharmalot, where Ed fairly notes the new site is a bit bland, and wonders how corporate sites like this affect the "long-running experiment in which communications, marketing and legal teams clash over the extent to which pharma can - and should - engage the rest of the world." CNTO411 joins JNJBTW in the Johnson & Johnson blogging family.

While You Were Redesigning Your Blog

Does our blog look big in this? You may have noticed a few changes round these parts, and we hope you like them. No, not that the pace of our posting has slowed (this will surely pick up as industry deal activity awakes from its summer slumber), but moreso the new look and feel of our corner of the web.

Today you'll even see the addition of our first blogroll (in the right-hand column). If you're not already familiar with these Web sites, go check them out. For now, it's a short list, and sure to expand. There are plenty of other high-quality blogs, and rest assured we will aim to update that list relatively frequently.

We'll be rolling out a few other new features in the days, weeks, months ahead. IN VIVO Blog started out only a few months ago as an experiment, and judging by feedback we've received from readers it seems to be working.

So thanks for dropping by, tell your friends and colleagues about us, and feel free to send suggestions, tips, rants, praise, remonstrations, or commiserations about the Phillies' inevitable collapse to blog [at] windhover.com. Or, as always, speak your minds in the comments.

Now, on to some weekend news you may have missed ...

• Back in the U.S.S.R.: Several drugs in clincal trials to treat hepatitis C have suffered setbacks this year, potentially opening the door to new mechanisms of action. On Friday night Implicit Bioscience announced that a Phase IIa study of its immune modulator oglufanide disodium had commenced in Australia. The drug originally hails from Russia, where it was developed and marketed to treat severe infections.
  
• I'm So Tired: The Guardian weekend magazine has an excerpt from The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Venetian Medical Mystery, by D.T. Max. The book describes the mystery surrounding fatal familial insomnia, along the way illuminating the history of other prion diseases like vCJD and kuru.


• Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey: The New York Times writes about functional MRI, and how a company called Omneuron is using the brain imaging technology to treat chronic pain. But the tech's first application could be in lie detection, says the CEO of the aptly named No Lie MRI.
  
• Cry Baby Cry: Results from Neurochem's Phase III trial of its Alzheimer's disease candidate Alzhemed were "inconclusive"--i.e. didn't show statistical significance--the company reported Sunday night. This is the latest setback for the company and its drug; shares of Neurochem have been in freefall since late last year.