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Watson close to $7 billion Actavis drug deal

By Ben Hirschler and Frank Siebelt

(Reuters) - Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc (WPI.N) is close to buying Swiss-based Actavis for around $7 billion, marking the latest deal between generics companies racing to achieve economies of scale, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The deal would involve U.S.-based Watson, already among the world's five largest generic drugmakers, paying between 5.0 billion and 5.5 billion euros ($6.6-7.3 billion) for Actavis, a business not much smaller than its own, the sources said.

After rapid expansion in the early 2000s, Actavis underwent a leveraged buyout in 2007 by Icelandic tycoon Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, which ultimately left Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) holding billions of euros of its debt.

It has since been seen as a target for either an eventual initial public offering or a trade sale. Its strong presence in central and eastern Europe fits with Watson's desire to expand in these particular emerging markets.

Spokesmen at Watson, Actavis and Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Wednesday.

Targeting Actavis is a bold move for Watson, whose previous acquisitions include the $1.75 billion purchase of Arrow Group in 2009, which established a foothold for the company in Europe, and the $1.9 billion purchase of Andrx Corp in 2006.

The purchase of Actavis would be far larger but could be made to work since there would be scope for significant synergies, including the possible closure of some manufacturing capacity in the United States.

The generics sector has seen a wave of M&A in recent years because Western governments are putting pressure on the industry to provide drugs at the lowest possible price, which favors large players who can produce at low costs.

Watson further expanded its European presence last year when it bought Greece-based Specifar Pharmaceuticals for $562 million.

Τhe pharma revolution will be digital, with new targets

Medical Marketing & Media | Deborah Weinstein

There have been multiple promises by pharma to change its sales and marketing approach. Booz & Co. partner Danielle Rollmann says the time for promises is over, and action needs to happen, particularly in the digital space. Now.

“We are beyond the point of hand-wringing over the issue,” she told MM&M, as part of a discussion of a survey her company conducted with National Analysts Worldwide of 156 US and EU-based executives. For those who read the survey's initial results MM&M reported in February, the latest news is how execs say they will put money behind their promises to change.

Among the 69% of execs who said the current marketing model needs to change:
• 58% said they were increasing their budgets for social media that targets doctors over the next two years
• 55% said they were increasing their investments in mobile tech
• 52% said they were increasing their use of e-details, and
• 51% said they were going to amp up their budgets for physician media channels.

Less enthusiastically embraced: journal ads, which only 19% said they were planning to put more dollars behind over the next two years.

Study shows prescription gender gap

Women are simultaneously given more drugs then men and undertreated, according to a study Medco and the Society of Women's Health Research.

The report found that these seemingly contradictory trends are part of an overall gap in understanding how the health of women and men differs from the point of physician interaction through compliance.

“I think physicians need to know this and need to know there may be unconscious biases against managing women the same as managing men, or there might be a lack of knowledge about the gender differences in management,” Dr. Chris Carter, vice president of scientific affairs at the Society for Women's Health Research, told MM&M.

Among the study's findings, based on 30 million prescription records from January through December 2010: doctors prescribed cholesterol-lowering medications for 59% of women compared with 71.5% of men, and beta-blockers were only prescribed for 63% of female heart attack patients, compared with 69% of men.