After years of insisting it was happy with its pharmaceutical business—a small player in the rapidly consolidating sector—BASF finally decided that it wants to "focus more strongly on inno vative chemistry, a highly efficient [inte grated company], and a global presence," as Jiirgen F. Strube, BASF chairman, put it when he made the announcement. The sale includes all Ger man and international opera tions of BASF Pharma, known as Knoll, and is subject to ap proval by regulatory agencies. The deal is expected to be com pleted in the first quarter of this year. Knoll is expected to have 2000 sales of about $2.4 billion, generated by a global work force of about 10,700 people. BASF's total sales in 1999 were $26.8 billion. The deal will enhance Abbott's posi tion "as a global pharmaceuticals com pany through increased sales, greater pharmaceutical R&D capacity, and a sol id commercial business in particular across Europe and in Japan," says Miles D. White, Abbott chairman and chief ex ecutive officer. Abbott had total 1999 sales of $13.2 billion, with about half contributed by pharmaceuticals. White's company was particularly en thusiastic about Knoll's technology in monoclonal antibodies and its research program in immunology. The injectable anti-rheumatoid arthritis drug D2E7 is especially attractive. On the other hand,
sales of Knoll's antiobesity treatment, Meridia, have been disappointing. BASF board member Eggert Voscherau, who has responsibility for the phar maceutical opera tions, says the tim-
Strube (left) and Holliday
ing of the sale was ideal. "Important products are achieving successes in the market, and the strong pipeline is full of promising other products. In any case, we would have needed a strong partner to successfully market the potential blockbuster D2E7, which is approaching the final clinical phase." At DuPont, after a six-month re view, the company decided its pharma ceutical business will thrive best out side its corporate confines. DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday Jr. says, 'We will evaluate all separation options, including an initial public offer ing, and will choose the one that can
Nano Letters Goes To Press The American Chemical Society plans to mail the first issue of its newest journal, Nano Letters, on Jan. 10. Nano Letters is the society's 30th journal and its sec ond letters journal. (Organic Letters was the first.) Nano Letters is initially being published monthly and will later shift to a biweekly schedule. The peer-reviewed journal serves as a vehicle for rap id disclosure of key elements of nanoscience and nanotechnology studies. The publication is intended to serve as a gathering place for readers and authors repre senting a wide range of nano-related fields. Potential topics include synthesis of organic nanosized materials by biological methods, modeling and simulation of assembly pro cesses, and applications of novel nanostructures. The first issue contains contributions on organic dendrimers, quantum dots, mechanical nanocomposites, DNA patterned materials, lithographically patterned catalysts, and biological motors, among other subjects. Letters in the journal can range in lengthfromtwo to four pages. The publication also features a NanoSeconds section
best contribute to our shareholder value objectives." DuPont's pharmaceutical business had sales of $1.6 billion in 1999, com pared with $26.9 billion for the company as a whole. After a mid1998 acquisition of Merck's 50% interest in DuPont Merck Phar maceutical, the business has been wholly owned by DuPont. Products include Sustiva (efavirenz) for HIV treatment; Innohep, a low-molecular-weight he parin injection aimed at deep-vein thrombosis; and high-blood-pres sure drugs Cozaar and Hyzaar. Sustiva, which obtained full Food & Drug Administration approval in February, is a once-daily nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used in combination with other anti-HIV therapeu tics. And several other drugs are in the pipeline. In 1999, DuPont made two deals in an effort to attain critical mass in pharma ceuticals. In September of that year, it an nounced a major research collaboration with Pharmasset, focusing on research and development of proprietary HIV and hepatitis Β antiviral compounds, and in October it purchased CombiChem to en hance its discovery and development of new medicines by linking computer tech nology with chemistry. However, the company has been thwarted in other efforts to expand its pharmaceutical reach. Corporate frustra tion came to a head last summer when, in
for essays of up to two pages that put recent developments in per spective. Manuscripts accepted by Nano Letters are posted on the journal's website as soon as they've gone through the review and editing pro cess. Thefirstarticle went on line in late November. Read ers can view Nano Letters on line for free through June 2001 at http://pubs.acs.org/nanolett. An individual print subscription for ACS members in North Ameri ca is $90 per year. The institutional rate for a print subscription is $975 per year and is somewhat higher for the Web edition. A. Paul Alivisatos, professor of chem istry and materials science at the University of California, Berkeley, is the journal's editor. Sophie Wilkinson JANUARY 1, 2001 C&EN 7
