Narcolepsy is no longer the big sleep it once was. John Pinching spends a couple of hours in the company of a BBC television director, and he doesn’t nod off once (and neither does the director).

When you turn up to meet someone with this condition, a number of strange scenarios go through your head. Will he be slumped in the couch? Will I have to rouse him with a quadruple espresso? In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, we met in a noodle bar as – oddly – Rostam doesn’t drink coffee. Therefore, for one month only, allegiances to hot, stimulating beverages are dismissed, in favour of jasmine rice and teriyaki. Tanoshii to yoi desu ne, as they say (in Japan).

Tell me about your condition. I have a mild form of narcolepsy, which means, although I don’t collapse or fall over, I can get incredibly tired during the day. If it wasn’t for my medication, I would become uncontrollably tired and have to lie down. If you imagine someone with severe narcolepsy having a quarter of a second to react to the knowledge that they are going to fall asleep, I have half an hour. I have more warning, but the need to sleep gradually increases if I don’t crash out. This is why I never collapse, as I normally have enough time to find somewhere to lie down.

How did you find out about it? I had tests on my blood and genetic markers, which established a high probability of narcolepsy.

What’s it like when you wake up? I feel very groggy and often I am so tired that I think I’ve dreamt up conversations that I actually have had on the phone.

That’s dangerous. Not that dangerous.

Depends what you say on the phone, surely? Apparently I just say “Yeah, yeah,” agreeing with everything. My memory around the times that I am tired is incredibly poor. I also find it very difficult to wake up and concentrate. When I surface I don’t feel any more refreshed; I still feel tired.

How did the condition affect you before your diagnosis? For most of my teenage years and early 20s I didn’t know what it was like to feel rested, but I didn’t know there was a problem, because I just assumed this is what students or young people are like. I thought walking around in a daze was standard because I knew no different. I was, however, devising coping strategies. I would regularly come home from school and just fall asleep. During the summer I would just sleep throughout the day.

Did anyone say, “Rostam, you are a lazy bastard”? They just thought I was a lazy teenager and would grow out of it, but I didn’t. People find it difficult to empathise with the condition. They think, if you’re tired, you should just pull yourself out of it, but it’s not that straightforward; we’re talking about a neurological condition. When I was a kid I was drinking Coke every day and, unknowingly, that was my coping strategy. The sugar and the caffeine helped perk me up. I was so tired all the time that I barely remember anything about my childhood.

When did you first start to face up to the problems? In my early 20s, I was planning to drive to my parent’s house, but I felt too tired, so I rang my dad, who’s a psychiatrist, and told him that I wouldn’t be coming back that day and he said “Why?”, and I told him that I don’t like driving at dusk, as I struggle to concentrate. He thought this was unusual and was worried that it might be depression, so I was put on a course of Prozac for a month. It didn’t make much difference: I was still feeling tired and sleeping at odd times during the day, but I did start to do the washing up!

What happened next? This is when I was sent to Papworth Hospital in Cambridge and I had a lot of sensors stuck to my head, so that they could monitor me as I slept. They woke me up at a specific time in the morning, gave me a meal and then during the day they would ask me to sleep, giving me 20 minutes. By the third or fourth time I was, like, bring it on, and was able to nod off on request.

Like a sleep DJ? [Laughs] Yes, I suppose.

What was the upshot? Looking at the graphs it was clear I had fallen straight into R.E.M. sleep [one of the deepest varieties]. They took some blood samples and a few weeks later I had to go to Addenbrooke’s Hospital’s sleep department and they told me that my genetics suggested a 90% probability of narcolepsy.

Was it a relief? It certainly explained a lot. I was a bit worried. Driving had always been an important form of freedom for me and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to continue. Luckily, with my medication, I’ve been allowed to drive and I’ve never had a crash. I’m so hyper-aware of my tiredness that I never get in the driver’s seat if I’m remotely fatigued. In that respect I’m probably safer than most people.

What medication were you put on? I began on 200mg-a-day of Provigil (modafinil) by Cephalon, which acts like an amphetamine. If I’m on a low the medication doesn’t give me a high, it makes me awake and normal. I don’t really get a buzz from anything; I can drink Red Bull continuously.

Was the initial course successful? I felt that it was working for the first part of the day, but by the afternoon I was getting tired again. They then upped my medication to 400mg-a-day. It was recommended that I take it in the morning but, although I found it more intense, I still wasn’t getting through the day. After a few months I went back and told them that I found it most effective if I took half in the morning and the other half in the early afternoon. That is how I still take it; it’s more level and I feel awake throughout the day. Interestingly, I have noticed that the advice on the medicine has changed and is more in line with how I take it. That’s reassuring because clearly other people have had the same experience as me.

Overall, what impact has Provigil had on your life? The medication has shown me what it’s like, for the first time, to be properly awake. It allows me to experience what other people feel like during the day. It’s had a dramatic effect on me. To be able to concentrate, be awake, be normal, has transformed my life.

When directing live news have you ever been gripped by the urge to sleep? In a life or death situation the body and adrenaline react in such a way that the need for sleep is delayed. For instance a narcoleptic driving a car could quite easily fall asleep at the wheel, but a narcoleptic who is about to be crushed by a falling building will probably remain awake. After a live programme, however, I do feel immensely tired, but happy to have got through.

What does the future hold? The advances in the last ten years of medicine, treating narcolepsy, have been incredible and I expect the next decade will produce more ground-breaking treatments.

Thanks, Rostam, that was a real eye-opener.

Rostam Kilgour directs BBC London News, providing polite instructions to the likes of Riz Lateef and Alice Bhandhukravi.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has targeted $2bn in cost savings within the next five years, its CEO has told Wall Street investors.

Jeremy Levin, who took over as chief executive in May, revealed plans to save the money over the next five years in order for it move away from simply manufacturing generic products.

Levin told investors that the company will cut up to $2bn from its expenditure by reducing research and development programmes, reviewing the way it purchases IT and raw materials and selling certain facilities.

“Teva will look like a very different company going forward,” Levin told investors.

Israeli-based Teva is a global leader in the generic market but has plans to develop into a major pharmaceutical company. Levin replaced Shlomo Yanai with the intention of boosting Teva’s revenue streams through a new approach of mergers and acquisitions.

Yet despite recently purchasing Cephalon, along with its branded drugs Provigil and Nuvigil, the company has failed to hit Levin’s revenue target of $20.8bn. Teva now expects revenue for 2012 to be between $19.5 billion and $20.5 billion.

Net revenue was up by a quarter at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the first three months of 2012 to more than $5.1 billion.

An increase in sales in the US and Rest of the World saw GAAP income increase to $859 million and non-GAAP net income climb to $1.30bn.

Shlomo Yanai, Teva’s President and CEO, said the company is “off to a good start”.

Teva saw net revenue for generic products increase by 12%, when compared to the same period last year, to $2.6bn and net revenue for its branded products hike by 54% to $2.1bn – mainly due to sales of Cephalon.

In the US, net revenues generated $2.8bn, an increase of 46% compared to Q1 2011, and accounted for 54% of overall sales.

Sales in the Rest of the World were up 21% to $1bn as revenues grew in the region by 23%. But net revenue dipped by 2% in Europe compared to the same quarter of last year due to austerity measures and price reductions.

“We enjoyed a quarter of strong growth for our branded products, in our US generics business, and in the developing markets Teva operates in,” commented Shlomo Yanai. “All of these served to offset weaker generics sales in Europe, which resulted primarily from the macro-economic conditions in that region.”

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is seeking to expand its branded drug portfolio and make more acquisitions, downplaying its reputation as a generics supplier.

This follows a year in which its acquisition of US specialty pharmaceutical company Cephalon saw Teva benefit from growing sales of MS drug Copaxone, while its sales of generics in the US declined.

Chief Executive Shlomo Yanai (pictured) said the Israel-based company does not want to be dependent on one ‘blockbuster’ product – an implicit comment on the ‘patent cliff’ faced by some leading pharma companies this year.

Yanai’s impending replacement (in May) by Jeremy Levin, who oversaw BMS’s ‘string of pearls’ acquisition strategy, has been interpreted as meaning that Teva will expand through takeovers of smaller companies.

Teva is the world’s leading supplier of generic drugs, but in 2011 its sales of generics in the US fell by 32%.

The company’s $6.5bn acquisition of Cephalon, which closed in October, was the main factor in the 28% rise in sales that Teva saw in the fourth quarter of 2011 – bringing its 2011 sales revenue to $18.3bn, 14% above the 2010 figure.

Sales of Copaxone, which passed $1bn in the last quarter, made up one-sixth of Teva’s entire quarterly revenue – but in 2012, the drug’s sales are expected to peak due to growing competition.

Yanai commented: “Our answer is not just in developing drugs but in reducing our dependence on this product.” He also said he was “optimistic about the continued growth of Teva in the branded products sector,” and that the company was examining opportunities for acquisitions.

2011 also saw Teva acquire Japanese company Taiyo and partner with Procter & Gamble to supply OTC medicines. Analysts have suggested that the company may seek to purchase Shire, a specialist in drugs for rare diseases.

However, Teva has no plans to abandon the generics market, which Yanai said may pick up in 2012 due to the worsening US economic crisis.

Teva forecasts 2012 sales of $22bn, compared to $18.3bn in 2011 – including $8.2bn from branded drugs, compared with $6.5bn in 2011.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs are expected to be lost at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries as part of the company’s cost-cutting measures.

Reports from Israel claim the majority of the layoffs will be made in the US and Europe and mainly focused in Teva’s recently acquired Cephalon’s generic business.

The reports say that Teva is hoping to raise $500 million in synergies from its takeover with job losses expected to raise the majority of its target.

Teva has already said it is planning to cut sales, marketing and administrative expenses by $300 million, R&D by between $120 million and $150 million, and production costs by $50 million to $80 million. R&D savings would be achieved by cutting duplicate operations, the company said.

Teva has a history of job losses following takeovers of generic companies. In 2008 it bought US generic specialist Barr and reduced its workforce by 10%, reports say.

A reduction of 1,000 jobs at Cephalon would represent a loss of 27% roles before the takeover. But one company where job losses will be made, the reports say, is at Mepha, the Swiss generics manufacturer Cephalon bought last year. The company had 620 jobs prior to the acquisition.

Mylan has launched its Rivastigmine capsules to treat dementia in Alzheimer’s patients, the first generic version of Novartis’ Exelon in the UK.

Robert J. Coury, Mylan’s Chairman and CEO, said that the drug is Mylan’s second recent first-to-market generic to be launched in the UK, following the company's launch of Modafinil tablets, the generic version of Cephalon's Provigil, earlier this year.

He said that the launch marks the company’s continued “commitment of providing high quality and affordable medicines to patients around the world”.

Mylan provides global generic and specialty pharmaceuticals in 150 countries and territories.

EKR Therapeutics has appointed Robert Roche Jr as an independent director to its Board.

John Bailye, President and CEO of EKR Therapeutics, said that Mr Roche “brings a wealth of operating and management experience to our company at a time when we are working hard to expand our business”.

Mr. Roche currently works as Independent Director of NuPathe in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. His previous positions include executive vice president of Worldwide Pharmaceutical Operations at Cephalon as well as various sales and marketing roles at SmithKline Beecham.

EKR Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company that provides acute care products to the hospital marketplace.

Par Pharmaceutical has acquired worldwide rights to three products belonging to Teva Pharmaceuticals in connection with the generic pharma company’s buyout of Cephalon.

Under the agreement, Par will own Teva’s fentanyl citrate lozenges, a generic version of Actiq, and the generic version of Amrix (cyclobenzaprine ER capsules). The deal also includes the US market rights to modafinil tablets, the generic version of Provigil.

Annual US sales for Actiq and its equivalent generic products have been reported at $173 million, with $1.1 billion for Provigil, and $125 million for Amrix.

Teva Pharmaceuticals won a race against Valeant to acquire Cephalon, buying the company for $6.8 billion in May 2011.

Several large pharmaceutical companies have paid US physicians nearly $150m this year, according to analysis by the Financial Times.

Industry data into the controversial marketing and support practices found that $148m has been given to 165,000 doctors so far, including $48m from Eli Lilly and $42m from Pfizer.

A spokesperson for Lilly said the “collaboration with healthcare providers is essential” to improve outcomes for patients and to provide innovative medicines.

In the UK, the ABPI recently changed its Code of Practice meaning companies now have to declare payments to healthcare professionals for their services from 2013 in an attempt to increase transparency. Government agencies in the US are currently finalising similar guidelines as part of the healthcare reforms.

The analysis by the Financial Times, in conjunction with PharmaShine, is designed to allow health authorities, medical institutions and patients better scrutinise and understand the links between doctors and pharma.

But the way current disclosures are made and presented varies and makes comparisons and analysis difficult for both authorities and patients alike.

Allan Coukell, Head of the Pew Prescription Project – a US drug safety watchdog – says that healthcare professionals and the industry needs to work together for research purposes, “but the marketing model is problematic”.

“The first step is transparency and we are not even there yet,” he added.

Research found that collectively the industry paid $437m to 262,000 doctors in 2010. Among the physicians who received the highest level of support was Dr Zale Bernstein, an Associate Professor from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. Dr Bernstein received $234,000 in 2010 from Cephalon, Eli Lilly and Pfizer and has already received more than $57,000 already this year.

Although the majority of doctors received smaller sums, studies have suggested even modest support by pharma can affect prescribing practices.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has agreed a definitive acquisition for Cephalon in a deal worth approximately $6.8 billion.

The Jerusalem-based company bid almost 12% more than takeover rival Valeant Pharmaceuticals in a transaction it predicts will create the leader in speciality pharma.

Shlomo Yanai, President and CEO of Teva, says the company is “delighted” to be working together with the Cephalon team on a “new and exciting future for Teva”.

The deal is not conditioned on financing and is expected to be completed later this year.

The acquisition will create immediate and sustainable value in a number of niche therapeutic areas including CNS, oncology, respiratory and pain management.

Teva says it will utilise its newly purchased commercial, R&D and operational capabilities and aims to capture value by providing customers with a broad spectrum of speciality branded products from its sizable branded portfolio, which already represents approximately $7 billion in sales. The combined company also has a robust pipeline that includes more than 30 late-stage compounds.

“This is transforming for Teva’s branded business, as it will help us to deliver on our strategic goal of creating a diversified, multi-faceted company,” said Shlomo Yanai. “We have been following Cephalon for a long time and are very happy with the opportunity to join forces. Our significantly broader portfolio will permit marketing and sales synergies and enhance profitability. We look forward to welcoming our colleagues at Cephalon to the Teva family.”

Kevin Buchi, CEO of Cephalon, says the merger with Teva is a result of a “rigorous process” by the company’s Board of Directors to maximise value and significant returns to its shareholders.

“By joining forces with Teva, we will benefit from their scale, worldwide reach and operational excellence, allowing us to further pursue our shared goals of delivering new, innovative therapies to help patients around the world,” said Mr Buchi.