00:00:00 Let me just start out with some current events.

00:00:27 President Clinton last week came out with his health care plan in the United States.

00:00:32 And for those of you outside the United States, it's a big deal because it impacts our largest

00:00:38 unit Syntex Laboratories and has a profound impact on the corporation.

00:00:45 The details of his plan are still to come.

00:00:50 He gave a very brilliant speech, I thought, outlining the broad concepts of the plan.

00:00:56 And as so many commentators have said, the devil is in the details, and the details

00:01:00 will be negotiated with Congress over the next year.

00:01:04 Now let me get into Syntex business and bring Dick Powers up here.

00:01:09 Dick?

00:01:10 I'd like to spend just a few minutes reviewing our fourth quarter activities and talk a little

00:01:16 bit about our goals towards cost reduction in the 30-month call to action.

00:01:22 Let me start out with the fourth quarter sales.

00:01:25 The sales in the fourth quarter for Syntex were above the fourth quarter a year ago.

00:01:30 They were $541 million.

00:01:33 Although they were slightly below the third quarter, that indicated in the third quarter

00:01:40 we had some unusual buy-in so that overall we feel pretty good about the fourth quarter

00:01:46 sales numbers.

00:01:48 And the fact that we managed to beat last year's fourth quarter also is important.

00:01:53 I think it's important to note too that for fiscal 1993, Syntex set a record sales number

00:02:00 of $2,123,000.

00:02:04 I'd like to move to selling general and administrative expenses.

00:02:09 And I think here we can show our most dramatic results.

00:02:12 You can see that selling general and administrative expenses, and this slide has really two lines

00:02:18 on it.

00:02:19 The bar chart talks about selling general and administrative expenses as a percent of

00:02:24 sales and the line demonstrates the absolute reduction.

00:02:29 And you can see beginning in the second quarter of this year, that white line has gone down

00:02:34 quite a bit in terms of our actual spending.

00:02:38 Part of that, of course, is the painful reduction we've had in the workforce.

00:02:43 This graph depicts the fact that we were at 11,700 people back in August of 1992 and

00:02:50 our goal is to reach 9,500 by August 1995 or the end of our fiscal year 95.

00:02:58 We're probably about 10,600 people today and we have to get down to 9,500.

00:03:06 However, most of the actions we need to take to reach 9,500 are already in place.

00:03:14 It'll come primarily from the further rationalization of our plant consolidation and some of the

00:03:19 rollout of our shared services so that the actions to get to 9,500 have been for the

00:03:25 most part communicated to those affected and we believe we've got a sound plan to get from

00:03:30 where we are today down to the final level.

00:03:34 One of our major goals was to maximize sales and the chart you have now in front of you

00:03:40 depicts the naproxen sales.

00:03:43 Naproxen remains our primary engine for Syntex in fiscal 93 and certainly for at least part

00:03:50 of fiscal 94.

00:03:52 I'd like to talk about our strategy, though, for naproxen as it goes off patent on the

00:03:57 21st of December.

00:04:01 This rather busy chart depicts several items that I know you've all heard about.

00:04:07 First let me talk about the OTC status.

00:04:10 As you know, there was another advisory committee and as of now we are talking to the FDA and

00:04:18 expect that we should get approval for OTC.

00:04:22 I don't know when, but certainly we're negotiating with the FDA on labeling and we feel that

00:04:29 approval should happen.

00:04:33 And the revisory committee was not a negative one.

00:04:36 The second one pretty much looked at what we had to do, the changes we had to make,

00:04:42 and we're now beginning to negotiate serious negotiations with the FDA and hopefully soon

00:04:49 rather than later we would like to have an approval of that product.

00:04:55 The next one down are the bulk chemical sales and here we've already experienced a great

00:04:59 deal of success.

00:05:00 We basically have signed up every major generic company in the United States for bulk chemicals

00:05:05 and we're not really aware right now of any major firm producing bulk chemicals to supply

00:05:11 the generic market.

00:05:13 So we hope here that although we're not going to make the profit we did on bulk chemicals

00:05:19 we did on the original version of naproxen, it will continue to cover our overhead and

00:05:26 keep our plants going.

00:05:29 We expect to launch a generic naproxen sometime in the fall of 1993.

00:05:35 We've hired the firm of HMS to market that for us and to assist in our own marketing

00:05:42 of generic naproxen through Hamilton Pharma, our division that will be marketing naproxen,

00:05:50 generic naproxen, and may well market other generic products for us.

00:05:55 We're also looking towards the branded market for new formulations and we're hopeful that

00:06:00 the EC formulation of naproxen or the enteric coated formulation will be approved also.

00:06:09 And of course we have our existing RX brand of naproxen and anaprox which will still be

00:06:15 promoting to the doctors and hopefully we can retain some market share there.

00:06:20 Let me take a look at Ketorolac right now.

00:06:23 Ketorolac continues to grow.

00:06:25 There have been disappointments in Ketorolac, I'll just review them briefly and if you want

00:06:30 during the Q&A you can ask some questions on that.

00:06:33 In Germany we are not selling Ketorolac, the German government has this under review.

00:06:39 We're not optimistic about that review but we're at least talking to that government.

00:06:44 In other countries of Europe we're primarily talking about label changes and we're working

00:06:50 with the various countries in Europe regarding that.

00:06:53 And in the U.S. we probably don't see a major impact, we will be looking at some label changes

00:07:01 but I think that's mostly going to be related to the post-marketing study that's due to

00:07:05 be completed in December.

00:07:07 This is a large extensive study on Ketorolac that will deal with its safety and effectiveness

00:07:14 and I think the results of that study will be important as to whether there are any further

00:07:20 label changes in the United States.

00:07:23 The IMS data for the past three months show that the oral Ketorolac is continuing to grow.

00:07:30 New prescriptions grew from 385,000 to 395,000 in June to August of this year and total prescriptions

00:07:40 grew from 469,000 to 496,000 in the same period June to August.

00:07:49 Ticlopidine also we did well in the fourth quarter, Ticlopidine reached almost 15 million

00:07:54 dollars in sales in the fourth quarter.

00:07:57 It was up 22% in the United States and 16% internationally.

00:08:03 At this point I'd like to turn the podium back over to Paul who will talk about how

00:08:07 we're strengthening our worldwide marketing capabilities.

00:08:13 With regard to what has gone on in the past three months, we're realigning sales force

00:08:19 resources particularly in Syntex Labs.

00:08:22 There was a restructuring of Syntex Labs that really deals with the change to managed health

00:08:28 care in the United States.

00:08:31 We had two separate sales forces, a blue team and a red team which means potentially two

00:08:36 individual representatives calling on the same doctor with two separate managers, two

00:08:42 separate regional managers and so on and so forth.

00:08:46 We decided that with managed care you can't afford to do that.

00:08:49 We're not dealing any longer with 500,000 American fee-for-service physicians.

00:08:56 We're dealing with the Kaisers, we're dealing with the Pacific Cares, we're dealing with

00:09:00 major buying organizations and as a consequence of that we thought that we could slim the

00:09:05 organization down, have one person going to see one doctor or one institution with

00:09:11 one manager.

00:09:14 With regard to other changes, the Mexican sales force was expanded.

00:09:20 Most of you in this room at least are not probably aware of what a magnificent job our

00:09:25 Mexican colleagues performed last year.

00:09:27 They had an outstanding year and they really would like to get more resource to pour coals

00:09:32 to the fire and we're providing them with that resource.

00:09:37 We have a bullet there that says appointing new leadership.

00:09:40 There's been a massive change in Syntex Laboratories.

00:09:45 It's a change that I think deals with the change in the environment in the United States.

00:09:51 Mel Booth has come down as president of Syntex Labs.

00:09:54 He's one of our most capable executives in the company and I think he will really light

00:10:00 a fire in labs.

00:10:02 Mike Ball who was the president of our Canadian company had the guts to give up his presidency

00:10:08 and come down as the head of sales in the United States.

00:10:12 That's a big tough move for any human being to take but there's a challenge and Mike's

00:10:17 a guy who likes to take on a challenge.

00:10:20 And Debbie Jo Blank is a very interesting person if you've not met her yet.

00:10:26 She is an outstanding marketing person.

00:10:28 She's an MD marketeer and she's one of the most creative people in the world.

00:10:33 We're recruiting very hard for a European and Pacific sector president with Mel Booth

00:10:39 moving to the States.

00:10:40 We need to replace him and with Gerhard von Wetzelbeck retiring very shortly, we're actively

00:10:47 recruiting in that area.

00:10:49 We've really got some superb candidates both internal and external that are coming down

00:10:55 on a final decision.

00:10:58 Next slide please.

00:11:00 Advancing the pipeline was the third piece of the strategy and I'm really excited to

00:11:05 tell you that we've added a fifth compound to the four priority compounds that you're

00:11:11 all aware of.

00:11:12 It goes by the sexy name of RS-25259.

00:11:17 It is a product, an anti-emetic drug to stop nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing

00:11:22 chemotherapy during cancer therapy.

00:11:25 It's a very important drug potentially.

00:11:28 There are a lot of competitors on the market and being developed, but this one has a promise

00:11:34 of being almost 100% effective.

00:11:37 If it works out in phase three trials as it has in preclinical work, we've got a real

00:11:42 winner.

00:11:43 And I think it's important to note that Bob Lewis again had the guts to bring in an outside

00:11:48 reviewer to take a look at his entire basic research program.

00:11:54 We brought in a Sir David Jack who was the head of Glaxo, one of the best research organizations

00:12:00 in the world.

00:12:02 He's retired now.

00:12:04 He's the guy that helped discover Zantac.

00:12:07 He came in and reviewed the products in our pipeline and he said, if all these products

00:12:12 were under my purview, first of all, I would be proud and secondly, why the hell haven't

00:12:18 you put your feet to the pedal on RS-25259?

00:12:20 He said, this is a good looking product.

00:12:23 Go with it.

00:12:24 And he inspired us to go with it.

00:12:26 So we've moved this to the next stage of development.

00:12:30 Little checks on the side of all these state that everything's on track.

00:12:37 In the last three months, not only have we stayed on track, but we've actually moved

00:12:41 ahead in the case of moncufinalate.

00:12:44 Now, let me talk to you a little bit about what the outside world is saying about Zantac

00:12:50 now.

00:12:51 The tune is starting to change.

00:12:53 It's still not in our corner.

00:12:55 But I feel pretty good about this in terms of the cuts that we've made at Zantac, which

00:13:01 we keep saying were painful, were painful, but also were necessary, were necessary, and

00:13:06 this is what people are saying.

00:13:07 If you ever wanted to know what it's all about, this is what it's all about.

00:13:12 It's a picture of what the future might bring.

00:13:15 We call it a bimodal strategy.

00:13:18 There's been a thought that since Merck and Metco combined in the United States or a major

00:13:24 company bought a distribution system, that all companies are going to have to go that

00:13:29 way or perish.

00:13:31 And with the merges of major companies, Bristol-Myers Squibb, SmithKline, Beecham, again, there's

00:13:39 a thought you have to be big to survive.

00:13:42 We see this as bimodal, kind of as spreading into two basic camps.

00:13:46 If you look at the left side where it says fully integrated pharmaceutical companies,

00:13:52 example Merck-Metco, clearly there are going to be more of these companies that try and

00:13:56 scoff up the distribution system.

00:14:00 So not only are they large pharmaceutical companies, they may be large wholesalers,

00:14:06 they may be large pharmaceutical benefit-managing schemes, et cetera, et cetera.

00:14:11 On the right, we see the fully capable discovery-driven company.

00:14:16 Companies like Syntex, Astra, Chiron might be companies like Roche, for example, companies

00:14:22 that will not choose to get involved in a fully integrated distribution situation.

00:14:32 How the heck can these little guys on the right or relatively little guys survive with

00:14:36 the giants on the left?

00:14:38 One, we think that the fully integrated pharmaceutical companies are going to be somewhat distracted

00:14:44 from their basic premise, that is, researching and developing new drugs.

00:14:50 I may be wrong on that, but I think the integration of two such disparate entities within one

00:14:56 has to have a tremendous organizational strain.

00:15:01 We feel clearly there is going to be a need for the discoverers of pharmaceutical products,

00:15:08 innovative, cost-effective drugs coming to the market, are going to be more in demand

00:15:13 than ever.

00:15:15 You could draw lots of arrows on this thing.

00:15:18 One is that the fully capable discovery-driven companies can sell their products directly

00:15:23 to managed care in the United States or to governments in Europe directly.

00:15:29 Secondly, we can actually sell products to these mega giants, the monstrous Merck-Metco

00:15:35 types of companies, because when you've got a $10, $15, or $20 billion company, how do

00:15:41 you grow it 8% to 10% a year?

00:15:45 It's an incredible feat to try, in the case of Merck, for instance, to add a billion dollars

00:15:51 in new sales every year when you can't raise your prices as you have in the past.

00:15:58 We think there'll be arrows flowing down, arrows flowing to the side, and on top you

00:16:03 have the biotech innovation specialists.

00:16:07 Jim Wilson used a term that I kind of like.

00:16:09 He said, this is going to be the farm team, for those of you that follow baseball, for

00:16:14 the Major League teams down below.

00:16:17 It's a place where innovation will take place, much innovation, not the only place.

00:16:22 It's a place where experimentation will take place.

00:16:25 Will any of the gene therapies really make it?

00:16:29 Out of this group, and it's not just biotech, but companies like Alza, some, but we think

00:16:35 very few, will move down to the fully capable, discovery-driven company box.

00:16:42 I hope that's clear.

00:16:43 We think very few.

00:16:44 We think most of these are going to consolidate, quite a few will disappear, and some will

00:16:49 stay small, if they're smart, because it's going to be really hard to make that jump

00:16:55 to fully capable, discovery-driven from where these companies are today, and virtually impossible

00:17:02 to move into the fully integrated side.

00:17:05 In the bottom middle, you have a little bunch of boxes called generics, pharmaceutical benefit

00:17:11 management companies, and wholesalers.

00:17:14 We'll be working with them directly as a company, and with consortium of other companies to

00:17:19 bring our products to the market.

00:17:21 This is kind of a picture that we think is developing for the next decade, and it influenced

00:17:26 our thinking in terms of how we deal with the world around us.

00:17:30 A couple of illustrative slides, on biotech, we have choices.

00:17:38 We said that it's unlikely that we will acquire or merge with a major biotech company like

00:17:45 an Amgen or a Chiron.

00:17:48 Probably the reason is that most of their products are licensed out already to big pharmaceutical

00:17:52 companies, and there's not much left, but we do think the acquisition of a small biotech

00:17:58 firm that might have a short-term product line that's not spoken for is real interesting

00:18:04 to us, and we're actively pursuing that, and then the alliances with biotech companies

00:18:10 such as Aguron and Chiron are really very interesting to us.

00:18:16 Research collaborations or equity investments in early-stage technology would be the way

00:18:21 to go.

00:18:22 On the next slide, we look very hard at generics.

00:18:27 Generics are going to boom.

00:18:28 Why shouldn't we get into this business?

00:18:31 We're forecasting in eight years that business will go from $8 billion to $30 billion.

00:18:37 That's a tremendous increase.

00:18:39 The $30 billion is really broken into three pieces.

00:18:43 Self-patent brands, that will be Naproxen on December 22nd.

00:18:47 They still sell a lot.

00:18:49 We've got Lidex, Sinalar, Noreno, they're still selling.

00:18:53 The third-party generics, these are the generic companies that are going to sell our products,

00:18:59 companies like Barr and Mylan, PAR, names such as this, and the originated generics

00:19:05 will be Syntex's Hamilton strategy, and we see that as the smallest piece, but nonetheless

00:19:12 a legitimate piece.

00:19:14 We decided after examining all these pieces that this is not a good business for Syntex

00:19:20 to get in at this point.

00:19:22 Why don't we go out and buy a third-party generic company?

00:19:26 The fact is, they're too darn expensive.

00:19:30 As we looked at pharmaceutical stocks losing about $100 billion in market value over the

00:19:36 past year, you look at generics, and they've been growing well over 100% in terms of their

00:19:45 value.

00:19:46 We looked at companies that had grown 300% this year and were showing losses.

00:19:51 Let me just give you a fictitious example.

00:19:54 Most of these companies are around $200 million in size, and they throw off no income.

00:19:59 There's zero, minus two, plus two, but there's not a big deal in the whole crowd.

00:20:05 If we were to go out and buy a $200 million company, we'd have to spend $250 to $300 million

00:20:10 to buy them.

00:20:11 We should get our money back in three years.

00:20:14 That means that they would have to throw off $100 million a year in income for us to make

00:20:19 it a worthwhile deal.

00:20:20 Well, if they're throwing off $2 million losses, you don't have to be a mathematician to figure

00:20:25 that one out.

00:20:27 We've kind of washed our hands at this time because of the prices of the generic companies.

00:20:33 The last slide I'm going to show you really is a strategic conclusion.

00:20:36 First, that innovative products will continue to drive our strategy and all companies' strategies

00:20:42 in the 90s.

00:20:43 I don't care how clever you are with boxes and circles and arrows, unless you have the

00:20:49 beef inside the hamburger, you're not going to get by with the bread.

00:20:53 You need products, and those companies that will have products will grow.

00:20:57 I think the industry has to reshape itself like Syntex is doing and has done.

00:21:03 We are clearly a leader in that regard, and I'm getting phone calls from other CEOs in

00:21:07 the industry on how we've handled our restructuring.

00:21:11 The wave is really starting to churn.

00:21:15 We believe very strongly that we have a strong pipeline of new drugs in the middle to late

00:21:20 90s.

00:21:21 This is critical.

00:21:22 If we're wrong, this company's in big trouble, but we think we're right, and we really have

00:21:27 argued that point inside and out.

00:21:29 I'm very proud of the company pipeline right now.

00:21:34 Syntex's main challenge, as far as I'm concerned, really falls into two areas.

00:21:40 One is a short-term product pipeline.

00:21:42 We sure as hell could use a new drug now, not 1996.

00:21:46 We don't have one coming out of Syntex.

00:21:50 Any acquisition or deal that we make right now in the short term has to give us product

00:21:56 now, not three years from now, but now.

00:21:59 That's a guiding principle.

00:22:01 With that, I'm going to say it's time for a Q&A.

00:22:05 I would hope a spirited discussion, either verbal or in the form of notes passed over

00:22:11 to the end of the aisles, will take place starting now.

00:22:15 The feeling is that we have too many consultants running around Syntex, that as a consequence

00:22:21 of that, they've kind of come in between the top management and the rest of the management

00:22:26 of the company.

00:22:27 There's probably some truth to that, but I must say that the process probably never

00:22:32 would have kicked off in this company without a hard-nosed look on the part of consultants

00:22:40 as to where benchmark companies are and where we are, and their experience of what companies

00:22:46 are doing to better themselves today.

00:22:49 I think, very honestly, the management of the company, myself especially, still feels

00:22:55 somewhat paternalistic.

00:22:57 I don't think we would have had the guts and determination to move to the difficult steps

00:23:04 that we moved to without a prod.

00:23:06 I think now's the time to start relaxing a little bit from the consultants, and I would

00:23:11 hope that they disappear within the next year.

00:23:14 We have a series of international questions.

00:23:17 One reason is that this session is being videotaped so that everybody working for Syntex who's

00:23:24 outside of Palo Alto and Evergreen can have a chance to participate.

00:23:30 One of the criticisms we've had of the last couple of videos is that the questions are

00:23:34 so Palo Alto-oriented.

00:23:37 We asked for some input, and let me just read, I think, what is probably the single most

00:23:42 important question, not just to our international colleagues, but to many people here as well.

00:23:51 International Keter-Rolak sales have been hurt by the more restrictive labeling in Europe

00:23:55 and by the negative publicity from the German license suspension.

00:23:59 What are we doing to respond to these lost sales?

00:24:02 What is the status of Keter-Rolak regarding WHO, CPMP, U.S. labeling changes, and so forth?

00:24:08 Let me say at the very start, the most important thing that we have done as a corporation to

00:24:15 respond to this crisis, if you will, is provide the authorities around the world with quality

00:24:22 safety data on Keter-Rolak.

00:24:24 We have turned what was to some extent a black eye into a very positive impression with many

00:24:31 authorities around the world.

00:24:33 The reason we did that is that, first of all, we moved far faster than I think people thought

00:24:38 we could as a corporation.

00:24:40 Secondly, the data was provided in a very high-quality fashion so that they were, in fact, able to sort

00:24:47 out a very complex picture.

00:24:49 That has been the number one task.

00:24:52 Now, we've got a number of ongoing tasks that relate to additional meetings in Europe, and this is

00:24:58 what the CPMP refers to.

00:25:01 We've got labeling discussions in the U.S., which are largely behind us, but we've got ongoing

00:25:06 marketing issues and so forth.

00:25:08 We're organized to do that by expanding the Keter-Rolak PMT.

00:25:14 So to make sure that we, in fact, have worldwide communication and coordination, all activities

00:25:21 relating to Keter-Rolak safety and marketing issues and other issues that might impact authorities

00:25:29 around the world must now all go through this expanded role of a PMT.

00:25:35 This is not a traditional role of a PMT, which is much more product development-oriented.

00:25:40 Paul just suggested that I explain PMT.

00:25:42 You know, we get so used to acronyms around here, they just roll off.

00:25:46 This refers to the program management teams.

00:25:49 Each of our products in development, whether it be Keter-Rolak, Oral-Ganciclovir,

00:25:54 Mycophenolate, Mopetil, each has a program management team.

00:25:59 They report to Bob Rowe, and as I said, they have a development responsibility, but we've

00:26:04 expanded the Keter-Rolak responsibility.

00:26:07 The question is, how are we doing with the key principles in the 30-month plan?

00:26:12 And I think all of us probably have pretty similar feelings, and we'll all talk about it.

00:26:19 I don't think the management of the company has been focusing heavily on empowerment in

00:26:26 terms of implementation, not in terms of theory, at a time where we're just coming out of the

00:26:31 cycle of downsizing.

00:26:33 I think we need to show big improvements in this area.

00:26:38 I truly believe that there are empowered portions of our company that are doing quite well.

00:26:46 We have empowered managers who you are seeing grow up in the company at this time, but by

00:26:52 and large, this is a condition that needs a lot of work, a lot of training, and I would

00:26:57 put a message out to the middle management who sits in this room, is kind of get out

00:27:04 of the way if you've got good people working for you.

00:27:07 Don't feel that you have to put your thumb down on all the things that are going on in

00:27:12 your area.

00:27:13 That's an absurdity.

00:27:14 That is the antithesis of empowerment.

00:27:17 Again, it's frustrating for me sometimes to learn about people at a certain level blocking,

00:27:26 blocking the flow of what we think is the beginnings of a really open company once again.

00:27:32 I'd just say that we're doing okay and not outstanding.

00:27:36 One area I'd like to touch on involving that that came up in the last meeting, and it was

00:27:41 an issue of diversity.

00:27:43 A lot of people have said, who cares about diversity at a time when the company is going

00:27:48 through a lot of problem?

00:27:49 I care about diversity, and I want you to know that, and I think I can speak for our

00:27:55 operating committee, is that we don't want to limit opportunity in this company based

00:28:00 on your color or your religion or your sexual preference.

00:28:04 I think if you're good, you ought to be able to move in this company.

00:28:08 We have to do a better job in bringing people of diversity, of quality into our company

00:28:13 at an earlier stage.

00:28:16 There are rumors of further restructuring to reorganize the Pacific and European sectors.

00:28:21 Can you comment on these?

00:28:22 Will the Pacific sector remain strong now that Mel Booth and Mike Ball have both been

00:28:26 recruited to join labs?

00:28:28 Will Syntex continue to be active in Europe?

00:28:33 When we announced the sector organization, we made a number of points, but one of them

00:28:38 is that we were trying to take a layer out of the company.

00:28:42 Before we had the sector organization, we had one international president, then we had

00:28:47 a series of area and regional vice presidents, then we had country managers.

00:28:52 We've effectively eliminated that middle layer so that the sector presidents report

00:28:58 directly to me, just as an international president would, but each of these sector presidents

00:29:03 report now virtually all of the country managers.

00:29:07 One of the most positive areas of feedback that I have received is from the country managers

00:29:14 and how much they appreciate having that layer eliminated, knowing that they report to somebody

00:29:20 who sits on the operating committee.

00:29:22 So the answer is we will not be changing that structure.

00:29:28 Second is, will the Pacific sector remain strong now that Mel Booth and Mike Ball have

00:29:32 recruited?

00:29:33 I don't think that gives nearly enough credit to the fantastic group of leaders that we

00:29:37 have in the Pacific sector, taking nothing away from Mel Booth and Mike Ball.

00:29:41 They're terrific leaders.

00:29:44 them, but you still have people like Rogelio Gallegos, Manolo Manriquez in Mexico, S.K.O.

00:29:52 in Korea, John Graves in Japan, Jeff Stewart and his team in Australia, and a fantastic

00:30:01 team of managers in Canada.

00:30:04 So the Pacific sector is strong.

00:30:07 We're recruiting a replacement for both Mel Booth and Mike Ball, but the Pacific sector

00:30:12 is still doing well.

00:30:14 Rumors have been flying that the Syntax corporate jet has been sold.

00:30:18 Is that true?

00:30:19 The reason I'm repeating your question is they can't pick your voice up on this.

00:30:23 The jet has not been sold.

00:30:25 We're looking now at leasing or chartering it.

00:30:30 There are today, I just spoke to a gentleman that's handling the sale for us.

00:30:36 There are 11 challenges for sale around the world, used challenges.

00:30:41 The economic conditions of the world are such that there aren't too many people buying airplanes

00:30:47 right now, but there are people who are chartering them, and there are people who are leasing

00:30:53 them.

00:30:54 And it seems to us if we can get the plane off our books and give it to someone else

00:30:59 for a couple of years, we'd be well served.

00:31:02 So if we can't sell it, we'll go to one of those two stages.

00:31:06 How successful have we been in licensing in new products for international markets?

00:31:12 This again is a question from our international units.

00:31:15 I think we've had mediocre success in that regard.

00:31:19 We have licensed in the Elan compound, Naprolan sustained release product in a few countries.

00:31:28 We've licensed Didronel, an osteoporosis drug in the UK.

00:31:32 We're in conversations with a company that makes a form of hyaluronic acid for arthritis.

00:31:40 We've licensed in a compound for depression in Australia, but it's kind of bits and pieces.

00:31:45 I'd say that we've just done a mediocre job in that sense.

00:31:49 And for those of you out in the rest of the world, hats off to Nick Halliday particularly

00:31:55 for a very aggressive approach to licensing in the UK.

00:32:00 With that, I would say that we're on time and thank you all very much for coming.