Pharmaceutical companies Lundbeck and Otsuka have formed a global alliance to deliver up to five new psychiatric and neuroscience drugs.

The Danish and Japanese pharma companies, both of which have a strong record in CNS products, have signed a sales and cost share agreement.

The alliance covers two near-term projects from Otsuka and an earlier-stage portfolio of psychiatric disorder treatments, encompassing psychotic, mood and behavioural disorders at all levels of severity, from Lundbeck.

The two companies have identified psychiatric disorders as a major area of unmet need.

Lundbeck is granted co-development and co-commercialisation rights to two Otsuka drugs: aripiprazole depot formulation (which improves compliance in users of the drug) and OPC-34712 (for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder).

Otsuka will have an option to co-develop and co-commercialise up to three early-stage compounds in Lundbeck’s R&D pipeline.

“With the addition of aripiprazole depot formulation and OPC-34712, Lundbeck has significantly broadened its growing psychiatry portfolio with exciting and unique treatments in an area of high unmet needs,” said Ulf Wiinberg, Lundbeck’s President and CEO.

“This collaboration further strengthens our US platform and allows us to be introduced with the US psychiatry community already in 2013."

Dr. Taro Iwamoto, President and Representative Director, Otsuka, commented: “We are very excited that Otsuka and Lundbeck have entered into a co-development and co-commercialisation agreement for aripiprazole depot formulation and OPC-34712, both potential key drivers of future growth for Otsuka’s CNS business.

“Lundbeck’s expertise in developing depression and anxiety treatments and Otsuka’s expertise in developing anti-psychotics will maximise the medical and commercial value of Otsuka’s portfolio in CNS. In addition, our partnership with Lundbeck will enable us to establish a strong platform to deliver these compounds to patients who need them.”

Through the sales and cost share agreement, Otsuka will receive up to US$1.8 billion from Lundbeck – which will see its psychiatry portfolio and US market penetration increase.

The combination of Otsuka’s strong presence in North America and Asia with Lundbeck’s strong presence in Europe, Canada and Latin America mean that the alliance will reach most of the global psychiatric market.

Medtronic has launched its T2 Altitude expandable corpectomy device for spinal stabilisation and correction worldwide.

The expandable vertebral body replacement cage features a self-locking mechanism that removes the need for placing a set screw during surgery, using bone graft to create contact to encourage fusion with the device.

Doug King, Senior Vice President and President of Medtronic Spinal, said that the new product demonstrates the company’s “long-term commitment to therapies for complex spine disorders for spinal tumour, trauma and deformity patients”.

Cancer patients can also benefit from the product. If the cancer has spread to the spine, the surgeon may replace the affected vertebrae with the T2 Altitude device.

More than 150,000 spinal fractures occur in North America every year, of which approximately 11,000 are spinal cord injuries.

Based in Memphis, Medtronic Spinal provides advanced treatment through the collaboration with surgeons and researchers to offer affordable, minimally-invasive products and medical technologies for neurological, orthopaedic and spinal conditions.

Novo Nordisk has increased operating profits by 12% in the first nine months of the year after sales growth rose due to the performance of Victoza (pictured), NovoRapid and Levemir.

Sales of modern insulins increased by 11% after Victoza sales nearly DKK 3.9 billion which resulted in net profit jumping nearly a fifth (19%) to DDK 12.4 billion.

Lars Rebien Sørensen, President and CEO, says Novo is “pleased” to see its key products “drive strong underlying sales growth”.

The Danish-based company has now updated its outlook for the year and expect sales growth to be between 10%-11% and operating profits growth be in the region of 17%-19%.

In North America sales increased by 17% and in other International Operations by 16%. Gross margin improved by 0.2% which Novo says reflects a favourable product mix development due to an increase in sales of modern insulin versus lower human insulin sales.

Regulatory dossiers for the company’s new generation of insulins, Degludec and DegludecPlus, were also submitted to the European and US authorities in September. “The filing of our new-generation insulins, ultra-long-acting Degludec and DegludecPlus, in the US and Europe is a major milestone in the expansion of our leadership in diabetes care."

Novo has now adjusted its preliminary outlook for next year which indicates a high single-digit sales growth and an operating profit increase near 10%.

The company increased its operating profit by nearly a third in 2010.

Boehringer Ingelheim is to work with Pantheon to develop two projects worth over $18 million involving combination drugs to treat type II diabetes.

Mark Kontny, Chief Scientific Officer at Pantheon, said: “I am very gratified that Boehringer Ingelheim recognises our expertise in formulating, scaling and successfully launching complex formulations such as these molecules. It is this kind of support and recognition that has enabled us to develop our market leading position in pharmaceutical development services.”

The projects are set to span over a three year period.

Patheon is a global provider of pharmaceutical services, manufacturing at ten facilities and nine development centres across North America and Europe.

AstraZeneca will cut 400 US-based jobs as part of the company’s strategy to operate more effectively and efficiently.

Around 70 positions will be eliminated from existing vacancies with the remaining posts coming from the company’s Wilmington headquarters and certain field-based, non-sales roles.

Rich Fante, President, AstraZeneca US and CEO, North America, says the job cuts are “necessary to build a leaner, more efficient organisation”.

The company cites pricing pressures and the growth of generic medicines in a “challenging environment” which have resulted in the need for staff cutbacks.

AZ’s blockbuster Seroquel will face generic competition in early 2012 – although the long-acting XR version may keep its patent protection for longer than was first expected. Crestor, the company’s bestselling drug, also faces generic and low-cost rivals when it loses exclusivity in November.

Employees have now been given the opportunity to put themselves forward for voluntary redundancy. AZ says that all decision on which posts are to be axed will be finalised in early December.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has acquired Nycomed in a deal worth €9.6 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

The combined company will be commercially active in the therapeutic areas of metabolic diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, cardiovascular health, CNS diseases, inflammatory and immune disorders, respiratory diseases and pain management.

Current Takeda Executive Vice President of International Operations, Dr Frank Morich, has been appointed as CEO of Nycomed.

Yasuchika Hasegawa, President and CEO of Takeda, said: “Partnering the two organisations will have complementary effects and further increase our potential to become a truly global pharmaceutical company.”

Dr Morich said that the combined company’s pharmaceutical market will cover more than 70 countries, with a presence in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia.

“I look forward to bringing Takeda and Nycomed together to ensure we can achieve enhanced revenue, growth and diversification, while maintaining the strong momentum of both companies,” he said.