Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A Game of Trivial Pursuit -- The Answer, In a Day's Time



Likely mooted by today's events, but yes, this is where the language may be found: in a suit to enjoin the Pfizer-Wyeth merger, on antitrust claims, in the federal District Court, for Northern California Golden Gate Pharmacy, et al. v. Pfizer, et al. (Case No. 09-3854).

Where was this particular statement filed? Take a guess. It was filed this afternoon, in a federal case -- that's the only hint I'll offer. See if you can guess which one:

. . . .More recently, Merck’s intended acquisition of Schering-Plough will even further concentrate the relevant markets, including the pharmaceutical innovation markets. (Id. ¶ 22.) In 2008, Merck spent $4.8 billion on research and development, and Schering-Plough spent $3.5 billion, for a total of $8.3 billion. The Merck-Schering-Plough merger will therefore account for 22 per cent of pharmaceutical industry domestic spending on research and development and 17 per cent world-wide. . . .

Find the answer here, on Thursday.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gee I wonder what would happen to someone if they piss off Merck / SP or Pfizer / Wyeth.

Oh Wait a minute:

http://industry.bnet.com/pharma/10003548/pfizer-defends-ex-cia-agent-who-terrified-neurontin-witness/

… we were all, quite frankly, terrified. I left Pfizer 13 years ago tomorrow, and when I was leaving, I — we received threats that there was no way the company was going to just let this go, so after 13 years, having a Pfizer representative standing at our driveway scared the hell out of us … I’m sorry, I left Warner-Lambert. I left Warner-Lambert, yes.

He later told the judge:

On the telephone, he said, “We know all there is to know about you,” and then cited the location of my daughter 200 miles away at college. How the hell am I supposed to remain unbiased when you do that? It feels like a threat. It feels like a threat.

Pfizer says the incident has been exaggerated to make the company look bad in the media, and that Danforth did nothing more than ask to speak to a witness in the case:

Pfizer certainly did not, as Mr. Franklin told this Court, “send[] a thug to [his] home to wave at the window at [his] eight-year-old daughter.”


Salmon