Cephalon, Inc. was an American

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

co-founded in 1987 by pharmacologist Frank Baldino, Jr., neuroscientist Michael Lewis, and organic chemist James C. Kauer—all three former scientists with the

DuPont Company Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname), a surname of French origin * Du Pont family, one of the wealthiest families in the United States Companies * DuPont, one of the world's largest chemical compan ...

. Baldino served as Cephalon's chairman and chief executive officer, until his death in December 2010. The company's name comes from the adjective "cephalic" meaning "related to the head or brain", as it was established primarily to pursue treatments for

neurodegenerative disease A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mul ...

s. As noted by ''fundinguniverse.com'': Cephalon was first included in the Fortune 1000 list of U.S. companies based upon annual revenues for 2006. Sales revenues reached $2.8 billion in 2010, ranking Cephalon among the leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world at that time. On May 2, 2011,

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (also known as Teva Pharmaceuticals) is an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company. Teva specializes primarily in generic drugs, but other business interests include branded-drugs, active pharmaceutical ...

announced it would acquire Cephalon. The deal was completed on October 11, 2011.

Product development and acquisition history

The company's early research efforts were focused on the development of

IGF-1 Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), also called somatomedin C, is a hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin which plays an important role in childhood growth, and has anabolic effects in adults. In the 1950s IGF-1 was called " sulfa ...

, an

insulin-like growth factor The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are proteins with high sequence similarity to insulin. IGFs are part of a complex system that cells use to communicate with their physiologic environment. This complex system (often referred to as the IGF ...

, in collaboration with

Chiron Corporation Chiron Corporation ( ) was an American multinational biotechnology firm founded in 1981, based in Emeryville, California, that was acquired by Novartis on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. C ...

, toward the development of a treatment for

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(Lou Gehrig's Disease), a candidate that was never approved. Thereafter, the company developed and commercialized products for the treatment of sleep disorders, pain, addiction and cancer, establishing the "wake franchise" on the basis of Provigil (

modafinil Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and wakefulness-promoting agent, eugeroic (wakefulness promoter) medication used primarily to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characteri ...

) and later,

Nuvigil Armodafinil, sold under the brand name Nuvigil, is a wakefulness-promoting medication which is used to treat excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and shift work disorder. It is also used off-label fo ...

, the ''R''-enantiomer of modafinil. In addition to conducting research on

kinase inhibitor In biochemistry, a kinase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates. This process is known as phosphorylation, where the high-energy ATP molecule don ...

s and other small molecules, Cephalon licensed other compounds, purchased other products, and acquired entire companies, in the latter case, including CIMA Labs, Anesta, and Laboratoire Lafon. It was from Lafon that Cephalon obtained the rights to

, which it marketed under the trade name

Provigil Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and eugeroic (wakefulness promoter) medication used primarily to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sle ...

, for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness associated with

narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that impairs the ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles, and specifically impacts REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), sleep-r ...

sleep apnea Sleep apnea (sleep apnoea or sleep apnœa in British English) is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which repetitive Apnea, pauses in breathing, periods of shallow breathing, or collapse of the upper airway during sleep results in poor vent ...

, and

shift work sleep disorder Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder characterized by insomnia, excessive Somnolence, sleepiness, or both affecting people whose work hours overlap with the typical sleep period. Insomnia can be the difficulty to ...

. Sales of Provigil reached nearly one billion dollars in 2008. In February 2009, Cephalon acquired the Australian biotechnology firm, Arana Therapeutics, which brought Cephalon its lead biologic candidate, ART621, a candidate for inflammatory diseases, and biologics for the treatment of cancers. Then, as ''infogrok.com'' noted in February 2010, "Cephalon... exercised its option to acquire Ception Therapeutics, following receipt of positive data from a clinical study in adults with eosinophilic asthma." Commenting on this, Frank Baldino Jr., CEO of Cephalon, said, "The acquisition of Ception is consistent with our strategy to diversify into biologics and provides us with an important phase three asset for further development." At the time of Baldino's death in 2010, the company he had co-founded in 1987 was best known for the alertness drug

, the painkiller

Actiq Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary clinical utility is in pain ...

, and the seizure disorder medication

Gabitril Tiagabine, sold under the brand name Gabitril, is an anticonvulsant medication produced by Cephalon that is used in the treatment of epilepsy. The drug is also used off-label in the treatment of anxiety disorders including panic disorder. Medi ...

. In 2011, Cephalon agreed to acquire ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals, which would provided Cephalon with marketing rights to

Omapro Omacetaxine mepesuccinate (INN; trade name Synribo; formerly named as homoharringtonine or HHT) is a pharmaceutical drug substance that is indicated for treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Omacetaxine approval in US is discontinued (Augu ...

, a therapeutic agent for a drug-resistant

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, in the

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

therapeutic area.

Management and locations

Longtime chief financial officer J. Kevin Buchi succeeded Baldino as CEO in 2011. Members of the board included: venture capitalist William Egan, former COR Therapeutics CEO Vaughan Kailian, prominent healthcare economist Dr.

Gail Wilensky Gail R. Wilensky (June 14, 1943 – July 11, 2024) was an American health economist who worked for Republican administrations and candidacies. Life and career Wilensky headed Medicare under the first president Bush and last worked at Project ...

, former SmithKline Beecham executive Dr. Martyn Greenacre, former Harvard physician and Glaxo USA head Dr. Charles Sanders and former Ambassador Kevin Moley. The company was headquartered west of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, in

Frazer, Pennsylvania Frazer is a census-designated place (CDP) in East Whiteland Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along US 30 between Exton and Malvern, and is the northern terminus for Pennsylvania Route 352. The former ma ...

, and had research operations in nearby West Chester and manufacturing and other operations in suburban

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. European operations were based near Paris, France. After the acquisition of Arana, Research and Development operations continued in Sydney, Australia.

Legal issues

In 1999 Cephalon settled a lawsuit for $17 million in which it had faced claims that Baldino and other company executives had overstated the potential for a drug aimed at treating

(Lou Gehrig's disease). In addition, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

filed suit against Cephalon, stating that it had made "illegal deals with generic drug companies to delay generic competition to Provigil", an accusation that Cephalon has reportedly disputed. In September 2008, Cephalon paid $425 million to the federal government to settle four whistleblower lawsuits and a criminal charge alleging Cephalon had marketed Actiq, Gabitril and Provigil for “off-label” (unapproved) uses.

Products

Select products that Cephalon manufactured and marketed included: *

(fentanyl citrate) * Amrix (cyclobenzaprine) * Fentora (fentanyl) *

(tiagabine) *

(armodafinil) *

(modafinil) * Treanda (

bendamustine Bendamustine, sold under the brand name Treanda among others, is a chemotherapy medication used in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It is given by intravenous, injection into a v ...

HCl) *

Trisenox Arsenic trioxide is an inorganic compound with the formula . As an industrial chemical, its major uses include the manufacture of wood preservatives, pesticides, and glass. It is sold under the brand name Trisenox among others when used as a m ...

(

arsenic trioxide Arsenic trioxide is an inorganic compound with the formula . As an industrial chemical, its major uses include the manufacture of wood preservatives, pesticides, and glass. It is sold under the brand name Trisenox among others when used as a m ...

)

References

External links

* (Teva Pharmaceutical) {{Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Pharmaceutical companies established in 1987 Defunct pharmaceutical companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania Health care companies based in Pennsylvania Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Biotechnology companies established in 1987 Biotechnology companies of the United States Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 2011 Biotechnology companies disestablished in 2011 1987 establishments in Pennsylvania 2011 disestablishments in Pennsylvania 2011 mergers and acquisitions