Actelion

Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Actelion logo
Type	public company
Industry	Pharmaceuticals/Biotech
Founded	1997
Founder	Jean-Paul Clozel, Martine Clozel, Walter Fischli, André J. Müller and Thomas Widmann
Headquarters	Gewerbestrasse 16, Allschwil, Basel country, Switzerland
Area served	Research and Development of medicines for unmet medical need
Key people	Jean-Paul Clozel, Chief Executive Office Guy Braunstein, Global Clinical Development Otto Schwarz, Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Franco, Chief Business Officer André C. Muller, Chief Financial Officer
Products	Tracleer, Ventavis, Zavesca, Veletri, Opsumit
Revenue	1,929 mio CHF
Operating income	457.3 mio CHF
Net income	390.6 mio CHF
Number of employees	2467 (January 2011)
Website	www.actelion.com

Actelion is a pharmaceuticals and bio-technology company established in December 1997, headquarterd in Allschwil near Basel in 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 was initially financed with venture capital provided through a syndicate including Atlas Venture, Sofinnova and HealthCap.

Actelion specializes 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 diseases often affect very vulnerable patient groups such as children; Actelion keeps investing in such areas:^[6]

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^[7]

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

Medicines

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, 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.^[8]
• Zavesca (miglustat): is currently the only approved oral treatment 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.^[9]
• Ventavis (iloprost): Ventavis is indicated for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (WHO Group 1) in patients with NYHA Class III or IV symptoms.^[10]
• 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.^[11]

Key figures

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.^[12]

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 Swiss Market Index.^{[1][13][14][15]}

Awards

Actelion received the "Prix Hermès de l'innovation" (Hermès Award for Innovation) in April 2011:^[16] The "European Institute for Creative Strategy and Innovation", the creator of the Prix Hermès, was founded in 2003 in France.

The "performance report for Swiss pharma websites" awarded Actelion the first Prize in the second consecutive year:.^[17]

Notes and references

1. "Financial Times".
2. "Nature".
3. "Businessweek".
4. "Medicine".
5. "Earth Columbia".
6. "Bionity".
7. "Actelion affiliates".
8. "European Medicines Agency".
9. "European Medicines Agency".
10. "European Medicines Agency".
11. "News Medical".
12. "Actelion company homepage".
13. "Swiss Market Index".
14. "UBS".
15. "The Pharmaletter".
16. "Prix Hermès".
17. "Prize for Website" (PDF).

See also

• List of pharmaceutical companies
• Pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland

External links

• Official website
• Official AERA website