Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs [...]

We apologize for the drought in items yesterday afternoon, but we did something unusual - we took the afternoon off. The schools are closed over here and we promised the short people that we would do something special. And so we did. Of course, we are still sorting out all the events that occurred in [...]

Bill Wells, the drugmaker’s new ceo, may excel at cutting costs, but it remains to be seen whether he can boost sales and a flagging stock price. “I think he’ll strip the company down to its bare bones and act very much like a private-equity firm,” David Lickrish, an analyst at Broadpoint Capital, tells The [...]

The string of issues facing this pill - brand-name and generic - is enough to leave you, well, depressed. For instance, the FDA continues to investigate a generic version of the antidepressant that is marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals, due to adverse events reported to the agency. Now, some of the 300 milligram brand-name Wellbutrin XL, [...]

In a complaint filed today, the Securities and Exchange Commission accuses the Canadian drugmaker and several former and current senior execs with engaging in fraudulent accounting schemes and making misstatements to analysts and investors. The execs facing charges are former chairman and ceo Eugene Melnyk; former cfo Brian Crombie; the current controller, John Miszuk; and [...]

Eugene Melnyk, who owns The Ottawa Senators hockey team, wants to ice the board and replace it with his own nominees at the drugmaker’s upcoming annual meeting, according to The Canadian Press. The maneuvering comes after Biovail reported a fourth-quarter loss and announced a strategic review of its business. The loss was attributable, in part, [...]

The Canadian drugmaker says the US Attorney in Boston is investigating activities surrounding its 2003 launch of the blood pressure med, and both civil and criminal charges may result. At issue is a program called PLACE - Proving LA through Clinical Experience - that the drugmaker used to encourage docs to prescribe the pill. (LA [...]

Who’s a hockey puck? The Canadian drugmaker, which is suing 22 research analysts and hedge funds for allegedly conspiring to drive down its stock price, has agreed to drop its claim again Dave Maris (that’s him to the left) and his employer, Banc of America Securities, The New York Post reports. What’s more, Biovail also [...]

What a hockey puck.
Earlier this week, Eugene announced he will retire from Biovail on June 30. This came just after the Securities and Exchange Commission sent him, some other execs and the company Wells Notices about its intent to pursue enforcement action over securities trading.
Today, Melnyk settled with the Ontario Securities Commission, which probed securities [...]

Who’s a hockey puck?
Eugene, who founded the pharmaceutical company, will retire on June 30, it was announced today, just 24 hours after top execs received Wells Notices from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Canada’s biggest publicly traded drugmaker, said the notices sent to Melnyk and Ken Howling, the cfo, relate to fiscal 2003 accounting, a 2002 [...]