March 31, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Irish firm Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is rumored to be in discussions with advisers on selling its nuclear imaging division.
Mallinckrodt Nuclear Imaging manufactures radio-pharmaceuticals used in cancer detection. In 2015 the division reported net sales of $424 million, responsible for about 11 percent of the company’s overall sales of $3.7 billion. The company was founded in 1867 in St. Louis, Mo. In 2013 the company was spun out of Covidien . Covidien was acquired by Medtronic Plc in 2014, which had moved its tax domicile to Ireland in 2007.
In 2015 Mallinckrodt indicated plans to sell its global contrast media and delivery systems units to French company Guerbet for $270 million. The stated intention was to focus on higher growth areas. The nuclear unit potentially up for sale runs out of a facility in Maryland Heights, near St. Louis.
“Our CMDS operation is a strong cash-generation business, and we have made significant progress in driving cash and profitability this fiscal year,” Mark Trudeau, the company’s president and chief executive officer said in a statement in July, 2015. “However, with our strategic goals and priorities focused in the specialty biopharmaceutical space, we believe Mallinckrodt is no longer the best long-term owner for this portfolio. Given its long industry experience and strong European and South American footprint, we believe Guerbet is ideally situated to maximize the value of this business.”
In a move that seems somewhat contradictory to today’s rumors, on Mar. 10, Mallinckrodt announced that it was re-entering the radiopharmaceutical Xenon Xe 133 Gas (Xenon 133) market. This would expand its portfolio for U.S. nuclear medicine patients.
“We are pleased to provide our customers with a choice when selecting Xenon 133 to help diagnose patient disease for approved indications,” said Dan Brague, Mallinckrodt’s vice president and general manager, Nuclear Imaging, in a statement. “As a global leader in nuclear medicine, Mallinckrodt’s commitment to the industry is evidenced by our ongoing investments in nuclear medicine, including making Xenon 133 available to clinicians across the U.S., with a focus on long-term supply.”
In September 2015 the company acquired U.K.-based Therakos from The Gores Group for about $1.325 billion. This investment expanded the company’s reach into the hospital market, specifically into immunotherapy through extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), and into critical respiratory therapies in neonatal intensive care units.
And more recently, on Feb. 1, 2016, Mallinckrodt announced it had closed on the acquisition of the global portfolio of three commercial-stage topical hemostasis drugs from The Medicines Company . The compounds include Recothrom Thrombin, PreveLeak Surgical Sealant and RAPLIXA. The company will invest in market development of the three compounds, which is also a push into the hospital market. No financial details were provided, although it was noted that the market for these types of assets are about $750 million in the U.S. annually, and at least $1 billion worldwide.
