# Interesting Article on Solvay and Cilansetron



## Kerri (Oct 1, 1999)

I found this article today and found it interesting, yet a little confusing. It sounds like Solvay is still interested in continuing with Cilansetron.Solvay seeks partner for bowel treatment drugBy David Firn in LondonPublished: March 11 2001 14:43GMT | Last Updated: March 12 2001 10:01GMT Solvay, Belgium's chemical and pharmaceuticals hybrid, is in talks to find a marketing partner for a new irritable bowel syndrome medicine. The move is part of its strategy to increase pharmaceutical sales 50 per cent by 2003. A large pharmaceutical company would be able to add experience and marketing muscle to the product, Cilansetron. Solvay, which is a minor player, has just 0.4 per cent of the global market. Analysts have forecast sales of about $100m. That could rise with a significant marketing partner, but there are fears Cilansetron could suffer the same problems as Lotronex, a closely related Glaxo Wellcome product for IBS. Lotronex was withdrawn last year because of dangerous side effects. Some analysts had expected Lotronex to reach peak sales of $1bn (ï¿½679m) before it was withdrawn. Solvay said it hoped clinical trials would show the drug was sufficiently different from Lotronex to avoid the problems. AloisMichielsen, chairman of Solvay's executive board, said he was prepared to sacrifice profit margins to increase pharmaceutical sales from E1.3bn to E2bn by 2003. Marketing partnerships would play an important part in the strategy. "Our portfolio is not a portfolio of blockbusters, but there is a lot of potential there," he said. Solvay wants to boost growth in its pharmaceuticals earnings, to offset cyclicality in bulk chemicals, the main part of its business. It also needs to offset falling sales of Fluvoxamine, an antidepressant that lost patent protection last year. Pharmaceuticals turnover has been growing at above average rates for the industry, but margins of about 13 per cent are unimpressive even by the standards of European chemical-pharmaceutical hybrids. That is partly due to the costs of launching five drugs in the last two years. The company is aiming for a profit margin of 15 per cent. To do that it must cut R&D spending, currently running at just over E1bn. Mr Michielsen says Solvay's scientists have come up with "more potential drugs we can possibly develop by ourselves." He is looking for partners to take on the work. Most of the compounds have not yet reached the clinic. He said Solvay was in discussions with "several large pharmaceutical companies," over Cilansetron, which is in the final stages of clinical testing. Does anyone else know any more about this? Here is the link to the site that I found this on... http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=...ate=IXLZHNNP94C


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