What Is Cephalon?

Cephalon is a U.S. biotech firm. The company specializes in developing medications to treat pain, central nervous system disorders and cancer. The company's sales and domestic and international portfolios have grown steadily during the first decades of the 21st century.

History

• Frank Baldino Jr., who holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Temple University, founded Cephalon in Frazer, Pennsylvania, in 1987. The company received its first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a new medication in 1998, and Cephalon currently employs 3,000 people around the world.

U.S. Marketed Medications

• As of July 2009, Cephalon's U.S. product portfolio consisted of the following medications:

  • Actiq (fentanyl "lollipop") for relieving breakthrough pain in cancer patients
  • Amrix (cyclobenzaprine extended-release capsules) for relaxing spasming muscles
  • Fentora (fentanyl dissolving tablet) for managing breakthrough pain in cancer patients
  • Gabatril (tiagabine) for reducing the occurrence of epileptic seizures
  • Nuvigil (armodafinil) for helping people who lose sleep because they work irregular shifts, have narcolepsy or suffer from sleep apnea stay awake
  • Provigil (modafanil) for helping people who lose sleep because they work irregular shifts, have narcolepsy or suffer from sleep apnea stay awake
  • Treanda (bendamustine) for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia
  • Trisenox (arsenic trioxide) for treating initial and recurrent cases of the blood cancer acute promyelocyctic leukemia

Overseas Products

• Through an England-based branch named Cephalon Europe, Cephalon provides more than 30 medications in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. This overseas portfolio includes Cephalon's U.S. medications, as well as Abelcet (amphotericin B lipid complex), Myocet (liposomal doxorubicin), Naxy (clarithromycin), Otrasel/Zelapar (selegiline), Spasfon (phloroglucinol) and Targretin (bexarotene).

Pipeline

• Cephalon has medications for treating acute myelogenous leukemia, Alzheimer's disease, bipolar disease, large-cell lymphoma, lupus, mantle cell lymphoma, myeloproliferative disorders, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, postoperative pain, schizophrenia, small-call lung, and solid tumors cancer in various stages of development. Rounding out Cephalon's developmental portfolio are two tamper-resistant opioid painkillers.

Corporate Performance

• Cephalon ranked 903rd of the Forbes magazine list of largest companies during 2008 and 10th among ranked pharmaceutical companies. On the other hand, the drug maker had only one of its products, Provigil, crack the top 100 most-profitable medications for 2008. Also the company incurred nearly $440 million in legal charges when it chose to settle charges that it had improperly promoted uses for some of its drugs. Nonetheless, the company reported on Feb. 12, 2009, that it sold $1.9 billion worth of drugs during the previous year, realizing an adjusted per-common share profit of $5.39. The company's earnings per share for 2007 were $4.60. Cephalon's stock trades on NASDAQ. It closed at $53.28 on July 10, 2009.

Subsidiaries and Partnerships

• Cephalon operates CIMA Labs as a wholly owned subsidiary to develop new drug delivery technologies. Cephalon also currently licenses some drug products from Eurand (Amrix) and Immupharma (the lupus treatment candidate ), and it is funding Acusphere's development of an ultrasound imaging agent. Most recently, in May 2009, Cephalon took a control interest in the Australian biotechnology firm Arana Therapeutics. [