News of the Week a military, a currency, a foreign policy, or even a space program of its own. But it does have a Parliament system and does present a common European voice on economic, agricultural, and environmental matters. Roy said a lot of people wish it could absorb the multigovernmental but independent European Space Agency, but at the moment it is only a whispered wish. Wil Lepkowski
Dow subsidiary and Marion Labs to merge Marion Laboratories and Dow Chemical have signed an agreement to combine the operations of Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Dow, and Marion. Taking the subsidiary public is a major impetus behind the move, says a spokesman for Dow. Separated from the commodity chemicals business, the value of the pharmaceutical company is expected to be much higher. The new company, Marion Merrell Dow, is expected to have sales of nearly $2.3 billion, making it one of the world's 15 largest drug firms. In an industry where consolidation is in vogue, the merger of two of the fastest growing drug companies is not surprising. Marion's growth has resulted from two drugs, Cardizem (for high blood pressure and angina) and Carafate (for ulcers), which account for nearly 90% of sales, estimated at $925 million in 1989. Merrell Dow, with sales of nearly $1.3 billion in 1988, has a more diverse product line. Although both have strong performers, the companies are expected to face difficulties in the 1990s as major patents expire. Although some features of the businesses mesh, says Karl Habermas of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., a New York City investment research and management firm, there aren't areas of "clear synergy." Merrell Dow, with resources to support new product R&D, has large overseas markets, and Marion, which primarily licenses, develops, and markets drugs, has powerful marketing and sales forces. However, because Marion has limited rights 6
July 24, 1989 C&EN
overseas, its products may add little to Merrell Dow's markets. In the first stage of the merger, to be completed by Aug. 25, Dow will buy about 58.5 million shares, or 39%, of Marion stock at $38 per share, giving it a 51% interest. In the second stage, to be completed by the fall, Marion, with shareholder approval, will issue 128 million new shares to Dow in exchange for all of Merrell Dow. With about 67% of the shares, Dow will also have the option to buy the remaining shares in 1991 or 1992 at a price related to the performance of Marion's stock. Although sales of Cardizem are expected to reach $1 billion by 1991, the patent expires in 1992. Ann Thayer
AIDS drug candidates double in two years The number of drugs and vaccines being developed for treating acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has nearly doubled in just two years, according to a new Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association report. There were 40 companies developing 35 products in PMA's first survey in 1987. Today 55 companies have 67 medicines and vaccines in human clinical trials. Burroughs Wellcome's Retrovir, also called zidovudine or AZT, was the only drug approved by the Food & Drug Administration in 1987, and
it remains the only therapeutic agent approved to fight AIDS. However, PMA's latest report lists eight other drugs that have since been approved to treat AIDS-related conditions, such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and Kaposi's sarcoma. "When you consider that the time required for development and approval of drugs other than those for AIDS remains seven to 10 years/' says PMA president Gerald J. Mossinghoff, "then it is clear that we have made important progress the past two years in developing therapies for AIDS." To speed approval of new drugs, PMA and the American Foundation for AIDS Research favor consideration of a parallel-track system. In this system, patients who are not participating in a clinical trial could be treated with a drug known to be safe (based on Phase I tests) at the same time it is in Phase-II efficacy trials. Bristol-Myers, which has been licensed by the National Cancer Institute to develop dideoxyinosine for treatment of AIDS and AIDS-related complex, recently agreed to participate in the first parallel-track program. In addition, PMA and the Public Health Service are supporting an initiative by the Institute of Medicine to consider alternate efficacy criteria for use in the FDA approval process, rather than simply clinical endpoints such as survival or frequency of opportunistic infections. Stu Borman
Petition candidates for ACS Board of Directors Two candidates have been nominated by petition to vie in this fall's election for posts on the American Chemical Society Board of Directors. They are Frederick E. Bailey, running for director from Region II, and Stanley Kirschner, running for director-at-large. Bailey, a senior research scientist with Union Carbide at South Charleston, W.Va., and councilor representing the Division of Polymer Chemistry, will run against Robert G. Squires and incumbent David C. Young. Kirschner, currently director-at-large and professor of chemistry at Wayne State University in Detroit, will vie with four
other candidates: Carlos M. Bowman, incumbent Joseph A. Dixon, Paul H. L. Walter, and Henry F. Whalen Jr. Two of the five will be elected. With the deadline just past for nominating candidates by petition, the slate of candidates for this fall's election is now complete. Candidates for other posts include, for president-elect, Newman M. Bortnick and S. Allen Heininger; and for Region IV director, incumbent William A. Nevill and Oscar R. Rodig. Ballots will be mailed to all ACS members in early October with a deadline for return set for mid-November.
