Sciele Pharma to Acquire Alliant Pharmaceuticals

PharmaManufacturing.com
04/30/2007

Sciele Pharma, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., announced Apr. 24 that it has agreed to acquire Alliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held pediatric specialty drug company headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga. Sciele will pay $122 million in cash for Alliant, which includes approximately $12 million in indebtedness to be paid at closing. The agreement also includes potential payments of up to $55 million based on meeting certain profit targets and product development targets for Alliant's products. This transaction is subject to approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act as well as other customary closing conditions, which is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2007.

Alliant Pharmaceuticals is expected to generate revenues of approximately $50 million to $60 million for the full-year 2007. Alliant has a field force of approximately 85 people, who will be retained by Sciele and will form Sciele's new Pediatric sales division.

Alliant's pediatric product portfolio under promotion includes: Orapred and Orapred ODT for asthma; Allegra Oral Suspension for allergies; Methylin Oral Solution and Methylin Chewable Tablets for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Lindane for head lice and scabies; and Rondec Syrup and Rondec DM Oral Drops for allergies, coughs and colds.

Sciele expects the acquisition of Alliant to provide:

• Diversification and strategic expansion into pediatrics
• Well-recognized branded pediatric prescription products with growth potential
• Solid base of unique or patent-protected products
• Product pipeline opportunities through life-cycle management, particularly with Rondec
• Similar pay-for-performance business model with platform for potential acquisitions.

Patrick Fourteau, Sciele's president and CEO, said, "The acquisition of Alliant gives Sciele a much larger presence in pediatrics, a therapeutic area in which we are involved with our Furadantin product, and will enable us to maximize the potential of glycopyrrolate, a Sciele product that is in pivotal phase III clinical trials for pediatric chronic, moderate-to-severe drooling. We have known Alliant since its inception, and we believe the integration between the two companies will be straightforward as we both have similar pay-for-performance models with an emphasis on speed of execution."

Mark Pugh, president and CEO of Alliant, said, "We have successfully grown our company by focusing on marketing innovative products for children. We have significantly increased sales in 2006 to more than $40 million from less than $1 million when the Company was founded in 2004. Now we believe that combining the strengths of Alliant and Sciele will enable us to accelerate growth of our existing product line and enable us to more rapidly pursue product development opportunities, utilizing the financial strength of Sciele."

For more information on Sciele Pharma, visit www.sciele.com.