Ecobrands Offers Free Trial For SagaPro -Herbal Remedy To Help Men With Overactive Bladders and Nocturia
(Newstron) London, UK. January 8, 2010 – The wild Angelica herb which grows prolifically in Iceland ’s volcanic uplands has been the source of medical remedies throughout the centuries since Viking times.
Modern herbal research by Icelandic scientist Prof. Gudbjarnason and others on the Angelica archangelica herb harvested in its wilderness habitat, has led to produce a herbal natural remedy called SagaPro. Frequent nocturia is associated with age, especially for men, because the prostate continues to enlarge during most of a man’s life. Scientific studies as well as increasing customer adoption demonstrate the beneficial effect of SagaPro for men with overactive bladders and thus reduce the trips to the toilet at night. Read more
Aquabalm Natural Skin Care Product Reports 1000 Satisfied Customers
London, September 30, 2009 – Aquabalm, a new skin care product from Iceland with revolutionary moisturizing technology derived from natural marine enzymes of the Arctic Ocean, reports 1,000 satisfied customers since its online launch earlier in 2009.
These satisfied customers come from diverse backgrounds worldwide, ranging from fashion models to teenagers to business executives, and they have been using either the gel or the spray versions of Aquabalm for various skin care problems, including acne, eczema, psoriasis and wrinkles, and have reported great results. Following are just some of the reviews received from Aquabalm users: Read more
Forma Therapeutics Announces $200 mn Collaboration Deal with Novartis
Filed under: Americas, Biotech, Capital Markets, Europe, Finance, JVs, M&A, Pharma
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Jan 12, 2009 — FORMA Therapeutics announced today that it has entered into a license and option agreement through the Novartis Option Fund. Under the terms of the agreement, FORMA will leverage its transformative biology and chemistry platform to develop inhibitors for an undisclosed protein-protein interaction target in the field of oncology. The agreement includes an upfront fee and potential milestones totaling over $200 million as well as royalties.
“Protein-protein interactions represent important target opportunities in the field of oncology drug discovery, but have been highly elusive to date,” stated Reinhard Ambros, Head of the Novartis Venture Funds. “Novartis is very excited to be collaborating with FORMA to access their biology and chemistry expertise and powerful discovery tools to unlock this challenging target class.” Read more
IBM to Acquire ILOG
Filed under: Americas, Computing, Data Management, Europe, Finance, Internet, M&A, Software, Technology
ARMONK, NY & PARIS - 28 Jul 2008: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and ILOG (NASDAQ: ILOG; Euronext: ILO, ISIN: FR0004042364) today announced they have signed an agreement regarding a proposed acquisition by IBM of ILOG to be implemented by way of concurrent cash public tender offers in both France and the United States. Through this proposed transaction, IBM will combine its business process management (BPM), business optimization, and service oriented architecture (SOA) technologies with ILOG’s Business Rules Management Systems software. This will enable IBM to help clients deliver critical business information in real-time, allowing them to make better business decisions faster.
The cash tender offer will be at a price of €10 per ordinary share and the U.S. dollar equivalent per American Depositary Share (“ADS”) based on the Euro/U.S. dollar exchange rate as of the settlement of the tender offers, amounting to an aggregate purchase price of approximately €215 million or approximately $US340 million on a fully diluted basis. This price represents a premium of approximately 56 percent compared to ILOG’s one month average of closing share prices prior to July 28, 2008, and a 37 percent premium to the closing price of Friday, July 25.
ILOG’s board of directors has approved the transaction between the two companies and, subject to the receipt of a satisfactory fairness opinion regarding the financial terms of the offer, is expected to give a final recommendation prior to September 15, following which the offer should be filed with the French stock exchange authority (AMF).
IBM has received commitments from certain shareholders to tender their shares to the contemplated offer, which represent approximately 10 percent of ILOG’s issued share capital.
The public tender offers will be conditional upon U.S. and EU antitrust clearances and a 66.67 percent share capital and voting rights minimum tender acceptance condition (on a fully diluted basis). The offer in France will only be opened for acceptances once the AMF and the French Ministry of Economy have granted their respective clearances.
The full text of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two companies will be filed with the SEC today as an exhibit to ILOG’s Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K. A summary in French of the MOU can be found on ILOG’s website (http://www.ilog.com).
When completed, the acquisition of ILOG will strengthen IBM’s BPM and SOA position by providing customers a full set of rule management tools for complete information and application lifecycle management across a comprehensive platform including IBM’s leading WebSphere application development and management platform.
BPM allows companies to model, automate, monitor, and redesign business processes, such as opening a bank account, documenting a medical record, or customizing an insurance policy. It enables companies to improve customers’ service and increase efficiency, automation and accuracy. Using BPM, companies can examine tasks within an organization – particularly those done manually or involving significant document processing – and apply BPM to automate or streamline them. Such processes are becoming increasingly critical as business operations become more complex and information volumes grow at phenomenal rates. Building on IBM’s existing capabilities, ILOG will help customers manage change and complexity in their business processes by providing powerful, yet easy-to-use business tools.
For example, a business rule might be applied to elevate a premier customer to the front of a phone queue as part of a customer service process. ILOG’s Business Rule Management System provides users with tools that allow greater control over the criteria that determine how and when to route those premier customers. As such, businesses can accelerate the process of initiating policy changes that may be driven by market trends or competitive activity to ensure customer satisfaction is maintained.
ILOG technology has the potential to add significant capability across IBM’s entire software platform and bolster its existing rules management offerings. This includes improved rules and business optimization capabilities for Information Management offerings, better visualization for Lotus products, enhanced optimization within Tivoli solutions, and efficient supply chain management assets for planning and scheduling.
ILOG offers tools and technologies for business managers, analysts, architects and developers to use as they analyze, plan, track and improve business processes. Today, hundreds of large enterprises use ILOG technologies to automate the allocation of scarce resources and to build smart interfaces into their business processes. Additionally, scientists and mathematicians from hundreds of universities use ILOG products for advanced research, design, and analysis.
“Companies across all industries are looking for technologies to help them manage their processes with more flexibility so they can keep up with changing business conditions,” said Tom Rosamilia, general manager, IBM WebSphere. ”ILOG’s software allows businesses to more effectively manage and automate the decision making process, giving companies an opportunity to react with incredible speed and accuracy. IBM has partnered with ILOG for over a decade, and by adding ILOG’s capabilities to IBM’s software portfolio, this is a great combination to provide value to our clients.”
Beyond end-user customers, ILOG has more than 500 original equipment manufacturer, solution integrator, and independent software vendor partners today. IBM also has an extensive partner community which will benefit from access to the ILOG technologies and extend ILOG’s reach. In addition to a successful network of more than 30 specialized partners and 850 personnel, ILOG brings extensive skills through a wide base of local and regional experts.
“We are very excited about this opportunity to join a world leader such as IBM, a long valued partner with shared core values. This combination will allow us to dramatically extend our market reach and realize the full potential of all of our technologies while protecting investments of ILOG’s customers now and into the future,” said Pierre Haren, ILOG Chairman & CEO.
About IBM
With more than 6,550 client engagements worldwide, IBM is a worldwide leader in SOA and BPM. This leadership is further illustrated by a community of greater than 120,000 architects and developers, more than 150 universities incorporating IBM’s SOA and BPM curricula, and more than 6,000 IBM Business Partners building SOA skills, solutions, and practices.
For more information on IBM visit: http://www.ibm.com/soa
About ILOG
ILOG delivers software and services that empower customers to make better decisions faster and manage change and complexity. Over 2,500 corporations and more than 465 leading software vendors rely on ILOG’s market-leading business rule management systems (BRMS), supply chain applications as well as its optimization and visualization software components, to achieve dramatic returns on investment, create market-defining products and services, and sharpen their competitive edge.ILOG was founded in 1987 and employs more than 850 people worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.ilog.com.
Additional Information
The offers are not being made nor will any tender of shares or warrants be accepted from or on behalf of holders in any jurisdiction in which the making of the offers or the acceptance of any tender of shares or warrants therein would not be made in compliance with laws of such jurisdiction.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties including with respect to the factors that may affect the completion of the acquisition. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and include, without limitation, words such as “may”, “will”, “expects”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “forecasts”, “seeks”, “could”, “should”, or the negative of such terms, and other variations on such terms or comparable terminology.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the expected future business of ILOG resulting from and following the offers and the successful completion of the transaction. These statements reflect IBM’s and ILOG’s managements’ current expectations, based upon information currently available to them and are subject to various assumptions, as well as risks and uncertainties that may be outside of their control. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and IBM and ILOG shall be under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter such forward-looking statements whether as a result of a new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.
The tender offers, which have not yet commenced, will be made for the outstanding shares and warrants of ILOG. This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell any ILOG shares or warrants. The solicitation and the offer to buy the shares and warrants of ILOG will be made only pursuant to an offer to purchase and related materials that IBM and its subsidiary intend to file with the AMF (in particular the Note d’Information) and the SEC (on Schedule TO). ILOG also intends to file with the AMF a Note en Réponse and with the SEC a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the tender offer.
ILOG shareholders and warrant holders and other investors should read carefully the Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO and the Note d’Information to be filed by IBM and the Schedule 14D-9 and the Note en Réponse to be filed by ILOG because these documents will contain important information, including the terms and conditions of the tender offer. ILOG shareholders and warrant holders and other investors will be able to obtain copies of these tender offer materials and any other documents filed with the AMF from the AMF’s website (http://www.amf-france.org.) or with the SEC from the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov), in both cases without charge. Such materials filed by IBM and ILOG will also be available for free at IBM’s web site (http://www.ibm.com), and at ILOG’s web site (http://www.ilog.com), respectively.
ILOG shareholders and warrant holders and other investors are urged to read carefully all tender offer materials prior to making any decisions with respect to the tender offers.
| Contact(s) information | |
| Matt Berry IBM Media Relations 914-766-1715 mhberry@us.ibm.com |
Kory Liss IBM Investor Relations 914-499-4095 kory@us.ibm.com |
| Susan Peters ILOG 408-991-7109 speters@ilog.com |
|
Celgene Lenalidomide Receives Orphan Drug Status in Japan for both deletion 5q MDS and previously treated multiple myeloma
Boudry, Switzerland–Celgene International Sàrl (NASDAQ: CELG) announced that lenalidomide (CC-5013) has been granted orphan drug status by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for two different indications: the treatment of both anemia due to low- or intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenic abnormality with or without other cytogenic abnormalities; and in combination with dexamethasone for multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy.
Orphan drug status is granted by the MHLW to promote development of drugs to treat rare diseases or conditions. Such designation confers multiple incentives for development, including access to a fast-track Marketing Authorization Approval procedure; financial incentives for development expenses; protocol development assistance; and a ten-year registration validity period once the product is approved.
“The decision by the MHLW to grant lenalidomide orphan drug status for both relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and deletion 5q MDS represents a major step in our efforts to deliver REVLIMID as a therapeutic option for patients living with these conditions worldwide as quickly as possible,” said Graham Burton M.D., SVP, Global Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance for Celgene Corporation. “We will continue to work closely with the Japanese regulatory authorities as we move lenalidomide through the clinical development process.”
Lenalidomide (REVLIMID) has obtained orphan drug designation for MDS in the European Union (EU), United States (US), and Australia, orphan drug designation for multiple myeloma (MM) in the EU, US, Australia and Switzerland, and orphan drug designation for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in the EU and US. REVLIMID is currently approved for use in the US and Canada for the treatment of patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to low- or intermediate-1-risk MDS associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. REVLIMID is also approved for use in the EU, US and Switzerland for the treatment of multiple myeloma in combination with dexamethasone in patients who have received at least one prior therapy, and Australia for patients with multiple myeloma whose disease has progressed after one therapy.
About REVLIMID®
REVLIMID is an IMiDs® compound, a member of a proprietary group of novel immunomodulatory agents. REVLIMID and other IMiDs compounds continue to be evaluated in over 100 clinical trials in a broad range of hematological and oncological conditions. The IMiDs pipeline is covered by a comprehensive intellectual property estate of issued and pending patent applications in the US, EU and other regions, including composition-of-matter and use patents.
About Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma (also known as myeloma or plasma cell myeloma) is the second most commonly diagnosed blood cancer. According to the International Myeloma Foundation, there are an estimated 750,000 people with MM worldwide. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the blood in which malignant plasma cells are overproduced in the bone marrow. Plasma cells are white blood cells that help produce antibodies called immunoglobulins that fight infection and disease. However, most patients with multiple myeloma have cells that produce a form of immunoglobulin called paraprotein (or M protein) that does not benefit the body. In addition, the malignant plasma cells replace normal plasma cells and other white blood cells important to the immune system. Multiple myeloma cells can also attach to other tissues of the body, such as bone, and produce tumors. The cause of the disease remains unknown.
About Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Myelodysplastic syndromes are a group of hematologic malignancies that affect approximately 300,000 people worldwide. Myelodysplastic syndromes occur when blood cells remain in an immature or “blast” stage within the bone marrow and never develop into mature cells capable of performing their necessary functions. Eventually, the bone marrow may be filled with blast cells suppressing normal cell development. MDS patients must often rely on blood transfusions to manage symptoms of anemia and fatigue and may develop life-threatening iron overload and/or toxicity from frequent transfusions, thus underscoring the critical need for new therapies targeting the cause of the condition rather than simply managing its symptoms.
About Deletion 5q Chromosomal Abnormality
Chromosomal (cytogenetic) abnormalities are detected in more than half of patients with MDS, and involve a deletion in all or part of one or more specific chromosomes. The most common cytogenetic abnormalities in MDS are deletions in the long arm of chromosomes 5, 7, and 20. Another common abnormality is an extra copy of chromosome 8. A deletion involving the 5q chromosome may be involved in 20 percent to 30 percent of all MDS patients. The World Health Organization has also recently identified a unique subset of MDS patients with a “5q- Syndrome” where the only chromosomal abnormality is a specific portion of the 5q chromosome.
About Celgene International Sárl
Celgene International Sárl, located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is a wholly owned subsidiary and international headquarters of Celgene Corporation. Celgene Corporation, headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, is an integrated global biopharmaceutical company engaged primarily in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases through gene and protein regulation. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.celgene.com.
REVLIMID® is a registered trademark of Celgene Corporation.
This release contains forward-looking statements which are subject to known and unknown risks, delays, uncertainties and other factors not under the Company’s control, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the results, performance or other expectations expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include results of current or pending research and development activities, actions by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, and other factors described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission such as our 10K, 10Q and 8K reports.
Contact:
Celgene Corporation
Head of Regulatory Affairs
Europe
Catarina Edfjäll, +41 32 729 87 63
Recommended
