Content area
Full Text
ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., er, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, is readying to mark another notch in its transformation.
The Costa Mesa-based drug maker has a deal in the works for its first acquisition under new management, which took over a year ago.
"We expect to have our first acquisition completed by the first quarter," said Timothy Tyson, Valeant's president and chief operating officer.
Tyson declined to talk specifics. He said acquisition targets include drug makers in Valeant's three product areas: infectious diseases, dermatology and specialty neurology.
Prospects include drug makers with products on the market or in development, he said.
A pending deal is part of Valeant's strategy to refocus the drug maker away from the days of founder Milan Panic, who was ousted by dissident shareholders last year.
In the past year, Valeant's been striving to break free of Panic's shadow. Last week's name change from ICN to Valeant is the most outward sign of the company's makeover.
Panic, a Serbian native and former Yugoslav prime minister, went after markets with "little growth potential, such as Central and Eastern Europe," Valeant Chief Executive Robert O'Leary said at a Bear Stearns & Co. healthcare conference in September.
What O'Leary called "resource drains" since have been sold off.
Valeant now plans to focus on 10 core markets....