Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Actelion logo
Type	public company
Industry	Pharmaceuticals/Biotech
Founded	1997
Founder(s)	Jean-Paul Clozel, Martine Clozel, Walter Fischli, André J. Müller and Thomas Widmann
Headquarters	Allschwil, Basel country, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 16
Area served	Research and Development of medicines for unmet medical need
Products	Tracleer, Ventavis, Zavesca, Veletri
Revenue	1,929 mio CHF
Operating income	457.3 mio CHF
Net income	390.6 mio CHF
Employees	2467 (January 2011)

Actelion was founded in December 1996 and has its headquarters in Allschwil near Basel (Switzerland).^[1] Its CEO and co-founder is cardiologist Jean-Paul Clozel.^[2] Actelion scientists were among the first to work in the field of endothelian receptor antagonists.^[3] The company name might be a reminder for its first product, an endothelian receptor antagonist and the verb "action", "act upon".

Actelion is specialized in orphan diseases.^[4] Often, R&D investments in such diseases are low because companies see no ROI. Obviously, this is a serious problem for patients affected by a rare disease.^[5] Orphan diseaes often affect very vulnerable patient groups such as children; Actelion keeps investing in such areas:^[6]

More information on rare diseases: see this year's (2011) worldwide "Rare Disease Day":^[7]

Actelion has 29 operative affiliates around the world, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Switzerland and a number of EU countries. The Swiss affiliate is located in Baden, the German affiliate in Freiburg, the Austrian one in Vienna, the French one in Paris and the UK affiliate is located in London^[8]

In 2006, the company established the Actelion Endothelin Research Award programme which supports selected clinical research projects.

Medicines [link]

Actelion currently has 10 compounds in its pipeline - including 3 in late-stage development - and 4 medicines on the market for orphan diseases:

• Tracleer (Bosentan): Tracleer was the first oral treatment approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare, chronic, life-threatening disorder that severely compromises the functions of the lungs and heart. It is a dual endothelin receptor antagonist, see also: Endothelin receptor antagonist.^[9]
• Zavesca (Miglustat): is currently the only approved oral reatment for patients with [[mild to moderate [type 1 Gaucher Disease]]] for whom enzyme replacement therapy is unsuitable. Type 1 Gaucher disease is a rare and debilitating metabolic disorder.^[10]
• Ventavis (Iloprost): Ventavis is indicated for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (WHO Group 1) in patients with NYHA Class III or IV symptoms.^[11]
• Veletri (Epoprostenol for Injection): is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the long-term intravenous treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with the scleroderma spectrum of disease in NYHA Class III and Class IV patients who do not respond adequately to conventional therapy.^[12]

Actelion's pipeline includes compounds for PAH, ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis, asthma, psoriasis, allergic rhinitis and cystic fibrosis. Quite some new scientific data on these molecules is expected to be published in 2011 and 2012.

Key figures [link]

By January 2011, Actelion had a total of 2,467 employees, 392 in research, 640 in development and 1017 in sales and marketing. In 2010, Actelion's sales amounted to 1,929 million CHF.^[13]

Actelion's shares have been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol ATLN) since 2000 SWX Swiss Exchange Swiss Leader Index. In September 2008, Actelion shares began trading as part of the blue-chip SMI Swiss Market Index.^{[1][14][15][16]}

Current News [link]

While Elliot Advisors, a US hedge fund, is currently criticising Actelion's Board,^[17] CNBC published a list of top executives in Europe where Actelion ranks second.^[18] The hedge fund asked for a number of changes re. Actelion's corporate governance and criticised its Management and Board. At Actelion's AGM on May 5, 2011, shareholders dismissed all of Elliot's motions, see Reuters'article for details:^[19]

In June 2011, Actelion announced a reorganisation of its senior management (c.f. story from Thomson Reuters): ^[20]

Awards [link]

Actelion received the "Prix Hermès de l'innovation" (Hermès Award for Innovation) in April 2011:^[21] The "European Institute for Creative Strategy and Innovation", the creator of the Prix Hermès, was founded in 2003 in France. The Institute is a think-tank which supports innovation strategies by its research and know-how in Europe and all over the world. It is developing a global approach to research in the context of a European culture which goes back to the humanism of Renaissance, taking into account the most advanced technologies and great international openness. Since it was founded, the EISCSI has been working with more than a hundred companies, universities and research entities.^[22]

The "performance report for Swiss pharma websites" awarded Actelion the first Prize in the second consecutive year:.^[23] While Actelion gets some criticism re. its use of social webtools, the company is now also active on

Twitter: www.twitter.com/actelion_com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/actelion

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DiscoverActelion

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official website
• Official AERA website