Mylan Laboratories stated it would not be put off by its largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, who filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 1, denouncing Mylan's effort to acquire King Pharmaceuticals. King's third quarter earnings showed a 74 percent drop in profits and a high level of product returns that could force the company to restate its earnings for the year. The Wall Street Journal reported that Icahn owns 26.2 million shares, or 9.8 percent of the company, worth more than $459 million.
Icahn has criticized the King deal, valued at about $4 billion, saying it's too expensive and too risky. Icahn also has commissioned a consulting firm to conduct a study evaluating the generics industry, which is expected to be released shortly. In a statement issued by Mylan, Chief Executive Officer Robert Coury noted, "Mylan's board of directors and management will continue to be thorough in their analysis of King and its recent disclosures and will neither be distracted nor deterred by Mr. Icahn."
King makes the branded drugs Altace for the treatment of high blood pressure and Levoxyl for hypothyroidism.
In other news, Mylan was granted tentative approval for its ANDA for pioglitazone HC1 tablets in 15 mg, 30mg and 45 mg dosages. Pioglitazone HC1 tablets are the generic version of Takeda Pharmaceuticals' Actos tablets, taken once a day to help lower blood glucose levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. Actos is co-promoted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America and Eli Lilly.
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COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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