- From the Technology Desk

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• Nicholas Piramal buys UK-based Avecia Pharma
  10/27/2005 11:51:01 AM IST
  
  
  Nicholas Piramal India Ltd. said on Thursday that it had acquired the U.K-based Avecia Pharmaceuticals for £9.5mn. The consideration is inclusive of funding the British company's pension fund deficit of between £8-9mn. The transaction is subject to requisite regulatory and other approvals.
  
  This is the company's second M&A deal in the U.K. after its acquisition of Rhodia's Inhalation Anaesthetics business in December 2004, Nicholas Piramal said. The transaction is in the nature of a share purchase on a liabilities and cash-free basis, it added. It includes working capital of £8.8mn.
  
  Avecia is a global custom manufacturing player focused on providing custom chemical synthesis and manufacturing services for the innovator pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It had consolidated sales of £36.1mn (Rs2.9bn) in 2004. The business includes early/late-stage and launched manufacturing assets in the U.K. and North America, a deep pipeline of products backed by strong customer relationships and a mix of unique technologies.
  
  Avecia is part of the U.K.-based Avecia Group. Private equity funds managed by Cinven and Investcorp International acquired the Avecia Group from AstraZeneca in 1999.
  
  The acquisition of Avecia marks the start of a new wave of restructuring within the Global Custom Manufacturing Industry, according to Nicholas Piramal. Companies in Europe and North America, driven by their access to technologies and customers, have historically dominated the US$15bn industry. However, over the last few years, increased cost pressure and downturn in the pharma industry has put these companies under pressure. Industry experts believe that the future custom manufacturers will have a strong base in India with technology and early-phase beachheads in North America and Europe.
  
  This transaction is the first step in the company's strategy of establishing a global footprint for its Custom Manufacturing business, Nicholas Piramal said. The reconfigured asset base will include access to leading early phase assets, including nearly 100 early-phase and launched products, it added.
  
  The company has established significant presence in both Western Europe and North America for value-added manufacturing, with access to key technologies in Chiral Synthesis, Fermentation, Biotransformation and High Potency Substances, Nicholas Piramal said. It also has access to a high quality process R&D team, including 53 PhDs, it added.
  
  Avecia comprises of the following business entities:
  
  1. Avecia Pharmaceuticals Ltd., UK
  
  2. Torcan Chemical Ltd., Toronto, Canada
  
  3. A 25% ownership of Reaxa Ltd., Manchester, UK
  
  http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/news.asp?dat=68662

  October 26, 2005 11:28 AM US Eastern Timezone

• ipIQ Patent Scorecard(TM) Identifies Innovation Leaders in 14 Industries
  
  
  CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 2005--ipIQ:
  
  1. Analysis of patent content ranks technical strength and corporate innovation

  2. Significant shifts underway in biotechnology, telecommunications, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors

  3. U.S. maintains leadership despite surge in Asian patent issuance

  A growing number of companies are raising the bar by using intellectual property as a strategic lever to gain competitive advantage, according to a new edition of the scorecard that tracks corporate innovation.

  "Our analysis distinguishes between patent quantity and patent quality, which is the real key to innovation," said Jim Finnegan, vice president of business development for ipIQ, which released an advance copy of the 2006 Patent Scorecard(TM) today. "The same analysis demonstrates that U.S. companies have maintained their technological leadership as intellectual property and patenting increase in prominence as drivers of the global economy."

  The Patent Scorecard analyzes several decades of patent data collected on over 50,000 companies across 14 industries. Significant trends and company movements within these industries include:

  1. Despite a decline in patent activity, two biotechnology companies, Human Genome Sciences and Large Scale Biology, moved from the 12th to 5th position and from the 19th to 8th position respectively, on the basis of improved invention quality.

  2. Telecommunications continued to maintain a high level of patenting. Within the telecommunications industry, Motorola has filed fewer patents but has significantly increased patent quality. Among the companies making significant moves, ipIQ identified Finisar as an industry up-and-comer, moving sharply in the standings from the 25th position last year to the 10th position this year.

  3. In the medical devices industry, nanotechnology is emerging to become the fastest-growing industry driver in history. Among the leaders in the field are Intuitive Surgical, which maintained the 8th position while Gyrus Group, a strong up-and-comer, rose from the 40th position last year to the 24th in the current ranking.
  
  4. In pharmaceuticals, most of the top companies continue to use acquisitions to focus their strategy as they reduce the rate of their patent filings. Teva Pharmaceuticals climbed from the 28th to 22nd position and could continue upward with its pending acquisition of Ivax Corporation.

  5. Semiconductor companies continue to be granted more patents than any other industry, and the sector leaders remained fairly consistent. Applied Materials broke into the top ten at the 7th position with strong links to core science and is emerging as a leader providing the building blocks for other innovations. (For additional findings, see fact sheet below, "Leaders by Industry.")

  Standings in the advance edition of the ipIQ Patent Scorecard are based on a comparison of data for the first three quarters of 2005, extrapolated to the full year, and on ipIQ's proprietary analytical toolset which assess innovation on four core criteria - technology strength, current impact index, science linkage, and technology cycle time. A full-year Patent Scorecard will be released in the first quarter of 2006. (For additional explanation, see fact sheet below, "Explanation of Patent Measures.")