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2008 Health Care Conference: Frontiers of Health Care

Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa, Santa Rosa

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Napa’s Dey may be sold by parent Mylan

NAPA, March 3, 2008 -- Dey Laboratories may be put on the market just five months after its parent company was acquired by Mylan, Inc.

Dey is the largest private employer in Napa County, with close to 880 employees total and 540 in Napa. It develops and manufactures several proprietary drugs to treat allergies and other breathing problems in addition to manufacturing generics.

In October 2007, Dey's former parent company, Merck KGaA, sold its generics business to Pittsburg-based Mylan for $6.8 billion. Long-time Dey president and CEO Mel Engle announced his resignation at that time, and Dey became Mylan's Specialty Segment.

The segment had revenues for the quarter ending Dec. 31 of $102 million.

According to Robert J. Coury, Mylan CEO, the possible sale is a strategic decision.

"More specifically, during our recent post-closing review of Dey, it became clear that the launch of Perforomist, which occurred concurrently with the closing of the Merck Generic acquisition, requires a redefined strategic approach,” Mr. Mylan said.

“While Dey is already in the process of addressing this issue, the delay will resulting slower growth and a longer timeframe to reach peak sales than was originally anticipated from this product. While we continue to believe that the Dey business as a whole represents a very exciting opportunity in specialty pharmaceuticals, we believe that our resources would be better allocated toward our core generics business. As a result we have decided to consider a sale of Dey," he said.