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The drug industry is consolidating as companies seek to define their vertical and horizontal markets. An increase in the dependence on generic drugs by governments, institutional buyers and businesses is a major factor in this consolidation trend. Investments in this industry should account for the possibly of continued consolidation. Companies that are considered prime targets include Wellcome PLC and Upjohn Co.

The drug industry will be affected by such factors as managed health care and the expiration of drug patents during the mid-1990s, and many companies will be merging. Government price controls may not come about because many firms have already dropped their drug prices without any regulation. After some firms close or merge, the remaining companies will offer some good investment opportunities, such as Pfizer and Merck.

SMITHKLINE BEECHAM reported third quarter sales of £2.19 billion ($3.3 billion), an increase of 10 percent, excluding currency, compared with the third quarter of 1999. Excluding currency effects, third quarter [...]

AFFYMETRIX Inc. will participate in the Mouse Sequencing Consortium (MSC), a new joint public-private initiative to accelerate the determination of the DNA sequence of the mouse genome. SmithKline Beecham, Merck [...]

SmithKline Beecham, which is in the midst of merging with Glaxo Wellcome (see ECM March 2000, p.81), has reported a 13% increase in pre-tax profit to £1.94bn for full year [...]

The combined entity of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham Corp. posted 16.9 billion pounds ($26.8 billion) in sales for 1999. The entity would have also posted 4.3 billion pounds in operating profits.

Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham are having to work hard to convince investors that their merger is a good idea, following last week's mixed results. GW had warned last year [...]

Avandia, SmithKline Beecham's oral diabetes drug, which was approved last May, has passed the 1 million retail prescription mark in its first seven months on the market and is leading [...]

MERGER PARTNERS SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome PLC both reported gains in 1999. SKB posted a 10 percent sales increase to [pounds]7.7 billion ($12.3 billion), and Glaxo had a 6 [...]

Results are generally strong thanks to new products. THE SECOND WAVE of major pharmaceutical earnings is coming in strong, following in the wake of banner results for fast-growing leaders like [...]

SmithKline Beecham posted an improvement of 15% in its pretax profits for the second-quarter of 1999. The company reported as much as 418 million pound sterling ($654 million) in sales for the quarter. SmithKline's sales increased by 11% to 2.16 billion pound sterling. The company's retained businesses posted a 13% increase in underlying sales for the quarter. Operating profits rose by 13%.

Most industry majors meet or beat analyst expectation. LEADING DRUG MANUFACTURERS posted higher growth in the second quarter, either meeting or beating analysts' expectations. The strong second quarter results stem [...]

Leading pharmaceutical companies are reporting growth in earnings for second quarter in 2000. Sales for 12 major drug companies increased by 10%. This report includes earnings report and related statistical data for drug discovery and biotechnology companies,

The merger of pharmaceutical companies SmithKline Beckman and Beecham in 1989 has been a success. The aim of the deal was to merge two equals and create a new company. Sharesholders have increased their investment more than twofold since the merger. Share capital in the new company was 50:50. SmithKline Beecham's new products made up about 463 million pounds sterling of 1993 sales.

Shareholders are advised to sell their shares in SmithKline Beecham, pharmaceuticals company. The company's drugs division is being harmed by the expiry of the US patent on its ulcer drug, Tagamet, as of May 17, 1994. The US market accounted for two-thirds of the drug's sales. SmithKline's consumer and animal healthcare and blood-testing businesses are very small, and only have small potential for growth.

The producers of antibiotics have slowed the introduction of new products and are keeping an eye on competition from the Far East. SmithKline Beecham (SKB) and Eli Lilly and Co lead the market in Europe and the US, respectively. SKB reported 1992 antibiotic sales of $1.46 billion and Lilly reported 1992 US antibiotic sales of $720 million. Antibiotics demand is growing in India and China, but remains flat in the US, Europe and Japan.

Another merger has prompted action from Standard & Poor's. SmithKline Beecham's double-A- senior unsecured debt has been placed on CreditWatch positive by the agency. Moody's agrees and has put the [...]

SmithKline Beecham Corp. has changed its $1.6-bil defined-benefit pension plan to a cash balance plan, which is a system that can be more expensive for a company, but can attract employees more effectively. The benefit is still guaranteed as in any defined-benefit plan. The company changed its $2.2-bil 401(k) plan as well. Vesting and company match structure is different and a stock ownership option has been added. Eligibility for the plans comes after six months now vs one year before., PHILADELPHIA -- SmithKline Beecham Corp. switched its $1.6 billion defined benefit pension plan to a cash balance plan. ``We did a survey and our employees were not understanding the benefit,'' [...]