MYL Company Profile

Prescription pharmaceutical products in the United States (“U.S.”) are generally marketed as either brand or generic drugs. Brand products are marketed under brand names through marketing programs that are designed to generate physician and consumer loyalty. Brand products generally are patent protected, which provides a period of market exclusivity during which they are sold with little or no competition. Additionally, brand products may benefit from other periods of non-patent, market exclusivity. Exclusivity generally provides brand products with the ability to maintain their profitability for relatively long periods of time. Brand products generally continue to have a significant role in the market after the end of patent protection or other market exclusivities due to physician and consumer loyalties.

Generic pharmaceutical products are the chemical and therapeutic equivalents of reference brand drugs. A reference brand drug is an approved drug product listed in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) publication entitled Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, popularly known as the “Orange Book.” The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (“Waxman-Hatch Act”) provides that generic drugs may enter the market after the approval of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) and the expiration, invalidation or circumvention of any patents on the corresponding brand drug, or the end of any other market exclusivity periods related to the brand drug. Generic drugs are bioequivalent to their brand name counterparts. Accordingly, generic products provide a safe, effective and cost efficient alternative to users of these brand products. Growth in the generic pharmaceutical industry has been driven by the increased market acceptance of generic drugs, as well as the number of brand drugs for which patent terms and/or other market exclusivities have expired.

Generic Product Development

FDA approval of an ANDA is required before marketing a generic equivalent of a drug approved under an NDA, or for a previously unapproved dosage strength or delivery system for a drug approved under an ANDA. The ANDA approval process is generally less time-consuming and complex than the NDA approval process. It does not require new preclinical and clinical studies because it relies on the studies establishing safety and efficacy conducted for the drug previously approved through the NDA process. The ANDA process does, however, require one or more bioequivalency studies to show that the ANDA drug is bioequivalent to the previously approved drug. Bioequivalence compares the bioavailability of one drug product with that of another formulation containing the same active ingredient. When established, bioequivalency confirms that the rate of absorption and levels of concentration in the bloodstream of a formulation of the previously approved drug and the generic drug are equivalent. Bioavailability indicates the rate and extent of absorption and levels of concentration of a drug product in the bloodstream needed to produce the same therapeutic effect.

Brand Product Development

The process required by the FDA before a previously unapproved pharmaceutical product may be marketed in the U.S. generally involves the following:

laboratory and preclinical tests;

submission of an investigational new drug application (“IND”), which must become effective before clinical studies may begin;

adequate and well-controlled human clinical studies to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed product for its intended use;

submission of an NDA containing the results of the preclinical tests and clinical studies establishing the safety and efficacy of the proposed product for its intended use, as well as extensive data addressing such matters as manufacturing and quality assurance;

scale-up to commercial manufacturing; and

FDA approval of an NDA.

Preclinical tests include laboratory evaluation of the product, its chemistry, formulation and stability, as well as toxicology studies to help define the pharmacological profile of the drug and assess the potential safety and efficacy of the product. The results of these studies are submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. They must demonstrate that the product delivers sufficient quantities of the drug to the bloodstream or intended site of action to produce the desired therapeutic results before human clinical trials may begin. These studies must also provide the appropriate supportive safety information necessary for the FDA to determine whether the clinical studies proposed to be conducted under the IND can safely proceed. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA unless the FDA, during that 30-day period, raises concerns or questions about the conduct of the proposed trials as outlined in the IND. In such cases, the IND sponsor and FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before clinical trials may begin. In addition, an independent institutional review board must review and approve any clinical study prior to initiation.

Customers and Marketing

We market our generic products directly to wholesalers, distributors, retail pharmacy chains, mail order pharmacies and group purchasing organizations within the U.S. We also market our generic products indirectly to independent pharmacies, managed care organizations, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacy benefit management companies and government entities. These customers, called “indirect customers”, purchase our products primarily through our wholesale customers. Approximately 65 employees are engaged in servicing Generic Segment customers.

Brand pharmaceutical products are marketed directly to health care professionals in order to increase brand awareness and prescriptions written for the product. However, these products are generally sold through the same channels and customers as generic products. Approximately 270 employees are engaged in marketing and selling the Brand Segment’s products, as well as servicing Brand Segment customers.

Consistent with industry practice, we have a return policy that allows our customers to return product within a specified period prior to and subsequent to the expiration date.

Competition

The pharmaceutical industry is very competitive. Our competitors vary depending upon therapeutic and product categories. Primary competitors include the major manufacturers of brand name and generic pharmaceuticals.

The primary means of competition are innovation and development, timely FDA approval, manufacturing capabilities, product quality, marketing, customer service, reputation and price. To compete effectively on the basis of price and remain profitable, a generic drug manufacturer must manufacture its products in a cost-effective manner. Our competitors include other generic manufacturers, as well as brand companies that license their products to generic manufacturers prior to or as relevant patents expire. No further regulatory approvals are required for a brand manufacturer to sell its pharmaceutical products directly or through a third party to the generic market, nor do such manufacturers face any other significant barriers to entry into such market.

The pharmaceutical market is undergoing, and is expected to continue to undergo, rapid and significant technological changes, and we expect competition to intensify as technological advances are made. We intend to compete in this marketplace by developing or licensing brand pharmaceutical products that are either patented or proprietary and that are primarily for indications having relatively large patient populations or that have limited or inadequate treatments available and by developing therapeutic equivalents to brand products that offer unique marketing opportunities.