Ovation Pharmaceuticals is an American manufacturer and distributor of

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

s products. It was founded in 2000 by Jeffrey Aronin and is headquartered in

Deerfield, Illinois Deerfield is a north shore suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into Cook County, Illinois. The population was 19,196 at the 2020 census. Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens Boo ...

. A major office is also located near

Lebanon, New Jersey Lebanon is a borough in Hunterdon County,in the U.S. stateof New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,358,FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

certification processes. Since 2009, the company has been wholly owned by the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck. In 2007, Ovation Pharmaceuticals was a recipient of the 2007 Chicago Innovation Awards.

Products

The company particularly focuses on niche drugs for small patient populations. Products include the

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

medicine, Desoxyn (brand name for

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

hydrochloride), and

vigabatrin Vigabatrin, brand name Sabril, is a medication used to treat epilepsy. It became available as a generic medication in 2019. It works by inhibiting the breakdown of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). It is also known as γ-vinyl-GABA, and is a stru ...

, an anticonvulsant that inhibits the

catabolism Catabolism () is the set of metabolic pathways that breaks down molecules into smaller units that are either oxidized to release energy or used in other anabolic reactions. Catabolism breaks down large molecules (such as polysaccharides, lipids, ...

of GABA and is indicated for

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

and substance abuse.

Purchases

In 2003, Sanofi sold its interests in stanozolol,

Methylphenobarbital Methylphenobarbital (INN), also known as mephobarbital (USAN, JAN) and mephobarbitone ( BAN), marketed under brand names such as Mebaral, Mephyltaletten, Phemiton, and Prominal, is a drug which is a barbiturate derivative and is used primarily ...

, and

Dimercaptosuccinic acid Succimer, sold under the brand name Chemet among others, is a medication used to treat lead poisoning, lead, mercury poisoning, mercury, and arsenic poisoning. When radioactive tracer, radiolabeled with technetium-99m, it is used in a number of ...

to Ovation.PRnewswire. 7 August 2003
Press release: Ovation Pharmaceuticals Acquires Mebaral(R), Chemet(R), and Winstrol(R) From Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc.
/ref> In March 2009, Lundbeck purchased Ovation for $600 million in cash, with further payments of up to $300 million based on regulatory approvals for

(Sabril), which was under development at the time.

Controversy

In 2008, the Federal Trade Commission sued Ovation in Minnesota federal district court over its 2006 acquisition of NeoProfen, a treatment for a congenital heart defect in newborns known as

patent ductus arteriosus ''Patent ductus arteriosus'' (PDA) is a medical condition in which the ''ductus arteriosus'' fails to close after birth: this allows a portion of oxygenated blood from the left heart to flow back to the lungs by flowing from the aorta, which has ...

. Ovation already owned Indocin IV, the only other drug used for this condition. Upon acquiring the only competitor for Indocin IV, Ovation raised the price of both drugs by 1,300 percent, from $36 per vial to nearly $500 per vial. The dramatic price increase was the subject of a 2008 Congressional hearing. In 2010, a district court judge ruled that the FTC had not proved its case.

References

External links

Ovation Pharmaceuticals Web site
{{Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Pharmaceutical companies established in 2000 Companies based in Deerfield, Illinois 2000 establishments in Illinois Health care companies based in Illinois