Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Expands With Teva
According to Cincinatti.com, Consumer products company Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) announced that it will make a partnership agreement with Israeli pharmaceuticals firm Teva Pharmaceutical Ltd. to promote growth in its over-the-counter drug business outside North America.
The deal will enhance the business of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)’s health care brands like Vicks, Pepto-Bismol, Metamucil and Prilosec.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) is expecting to generate $4 billion in the coming years.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) chief financial officer Jon Moeller said, “We see this partnership as a breakthrough we’ve been working toward for several years to expand sales of health care brands.”
Govt settles Pan lawsuit for $67.5m
An eight-year long case between Pan Pharmaceuticals and the Federal Government has finally concluded in the Federal Court in Sydney.
Customers of Pan Pharmaceuticals have been awarded $67.5 million in compensation.
That comes on top of a $55 million payout to Pan’s founder Jim Salim in 2008.
However, today’s settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing by the Government.
It was a brief end to a very long case – Federal Court Judge Justice Geoffrey Flick simply acknowledged the settlement was finalised.
He did not read out the entire judgement, nor the compensation figure.
Instead the details were relayed by the lawyer representing the class action, Andrew Thorpe.
“This morning the Federal Court approved a compensation package for the group members of the Pan class action of $67.5 million,” he told reporters.
“That compensation package was negotiated without admissions of wrong doing by the Government.”
Mr Thorpe says it ends a long running saga that began in late April, 2003.
That is when Pan Pharmaceuticals went into voluntary administration after a Commonwealth agency – the Therapeutic Goods Administration – recalled all of Pan Pharmaceutical’s products after complaints its travel sickness medicine had caused people to hallucinate.
“On that day hundreds of people lost their jobs, $350 million was wiped off the Sydney stock exchange, and scores of feeder businesses, customers and service provides of Pan were very badly affected,” Mr Thorpe said.
“We also saw the largest ever recall in the history of the planet. I think it is fair to say that the industry descended into a state of chaos from which it has never really fully recovered.
“Thus began the lone fight of Mr Salim, which culminated in Australian legal history in August 2008 when the Government capitulated, awarded him a judgement and paid him $55 million dollars.”
One of the major stakeholders in the class action is complementary health care company Pharmacare.
“There has been mixed reaction for the few people that I have spoken to,” said Michael Halter, Pharmacare’s group operations manager.
“Some think the outcome has been reasonable. Others think it is not enough because of the loss they’ve suffered, but that’s the way the judicial system works, and that is the outcome that we have.”
He says the cumulative losses suffered by the 170 members of the class action were far in excess of the settlement.
“I don’t think the payment by the Commonwealth represents the loss, the sum loss that everyone suffered, so the collective figure was more than two times the sum that was paid,” he explained.
He says he is puzzled why the Commonwealth has paid out so much compensation, but has not admitted fault.
“It is interesting that the Commonwealth has paid an awful lot of money both to this case and also to Jim Salim’s case without admitting guilt,” he commented.
“It is a big sum of money, it is a substantial sum of money, and the fact that they still believe that they are not at fault is an interesting quandary, isn’t it?”
He says he is happy to be able to move on with his life.
“I hope so. I have been fighting this case for eight years and I’m over it so, yes, I hope it is over,” he added.
The compensation will be shared between 170 members of the class action.
Biostar Pharmaceuticals’ shares up 23% as Q4 profit triples
Biostar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BSPM) said Friday its fourth quarter profit more than tripled due to strong sales of its flagship hepatitis B drug, prompting a huge spike in the company’s share price.
For the fourth quarter ending December 31, the China-based pharmaceutical drug manufacturer reported net income of $6.1 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, up from $1.7 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, in the year ago period.
On an adjusted basis, earnings for the quarter were 24 cents per diluted share, beating analyst estimates of 22 cents a share.
Revenue rose 66% to about $28.2 million, exceeding analyst estimates of $27.6 million.
The increase in revenue was helped by 57% sales growth from the company’s Xin Aoxing hepatitis B drug, which accounted for two-thirds of the period’s revenue.
Sales of the company’s Gan Wang cold treatment drug also improved by 37% to $2.2 million.
Biostar continued to expand its distribution channel in Chinese rural communities during the quarter, with its products now being sold at 10,000 locations. The company expects that number to grow to 13,000 in 2011, it said.
For the full year, earnings rose 66% to $17.4 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, from $10.5 million, or 32 cents per diluted share, in 2009. Revenues soared 50% year-over-year to $80.2 million.
Since the announcement, the company’s shares jumped nearly 23% to trade at $2.72 as of 12:22 pm EST.