Cephalon

Cephalon, Inc. (nasdaq: CEPH) is a U.S. biopharmaceutical company co-founded in 1987 by Dr. Frank Baldino, Jr., a pharmacologist and former scientist with the DuPont Company, who continues to serve as its chairman and chief executive officer. The company's name relates to the Greek root word "cephalic" meaning "related to the head or brain," and it was established primarily to pursue treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

Cephalon is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 stock index, and is included in the Fortune 1000 list of U.S. companies based upon annual revenues for 2006.

The company's early research efforts were focused on the development of IGF-1, an insulin-like growth factor, under a collaboration with Chiron Corporation to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, but the product has never been approved. More recently, the company has developed and commercialized products for the treatment of sleep disorders, pain, addiction and cancer. In addition to conducting research on kinase inhibitors and other small molecules, it has licensed compounds and acquired both products and other companies, including CIMA Labs, Anesta Corp. and Laboratoire Lafon. Its leading product is PROVIGIL[R] (modafinil) for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, sleep apnea and shift work sleep disorder. The company also markets ACTIQ[R](oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate) and FENTORA[R] (fentanyl buccal tablet) for cancer pain, GABITRIL[R](tiagabine HCl) for seizures, TRISENOX[R] (arsenic trioxide) for a rare form of leukemia, and VIVITROL[R] (naltrexone for extended release injectable suspension) for the treatment of alcohol addiction. In 2005, Cephalon bought Europe-based pharmaceutical company Zeneus. This added to its European presence and gave it further products for its portfolio, including ABLECET [R] (antifungal), TARGRETIN [R](bexarotene)for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and MYOCET [R](liposomal doxorubicin) for metastatic breast cancer.

The company has its corporate headquarters west of Philadelphia in Frazer, Pennsylvania and its research operations in nearby West Chester, as well as manufacturing and other operations in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota and Salt Lake City, Utah; its European operations are based near Paris, France. Sales revenues exceeded one billion dollars in 2005, ranking Cephalon among the ten leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world. In 2006, industry publication MedAd News named the company one of the ten most respected biotechnology firms in the world.

Key executives include J. Kevin Buchi, Dr. Peter Grebow, John E. Osborn, Robert P. Roche and Dr. Jeffry Vaught. Members of the board include venture capitalist William Egan, former COR Therapeutics CEO Vaughan Kailian, health-care economist Dr. Gail Wilensky, former Harvard physician and Glaxo USA head Dr. Charles Sanders and former Ambassador Kevin Moley.