Jazz Sells Women's Health Business

Jazz Pharmaceuticals

, the specialty pharmaceutical company, revealed Thursday that it has agreed to sell its women's health business to Swedish specialty drug maker Meda AB for $95 million in cash. The deal will allow Jazz to focus on its core product portfolio. Six products are included in the sale: Elestrin (estradiol gel), Gastrocrom (cromolyn sodium, USP), Natelle One (prenatal vitamin), AVC Cream (sulfanilamide), Gesticare DHA (prenatal multi-vitamin) and Urelle (urinary antiseptic). Last year, net sales for these products totaled $30.4 million. According to a

, the transaction will see Meda offer positions to approximately 60 Jazz Pharmaceuticals employees who directly support these products. "This transaction is consistent with our strategy of concentrating our efforts on our core products in highly focused markets. We believe that Meda will provide an excellent environment for the women's health team to continue to execute and grow this business within an organization that has an expanding commercial presence serving the women's health area," stated Bruce Cozadd, chairman and chief executive officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals. On Tuesday,

reported that Jazz's share price had entered “Oversold” territory, “with a stochastic value of 18.3129. The Zacks Consensus Estimate on the company's earnings for year ending December 2012 increased by 12 cents over the past month to $4.41 per share.” At the end of July, Sohn Health Strategies founder Catherine Angell Sohn was elected to the Jazz board of directors, strengthening at the top thanks to her extensive business development experience. In addition, August saw Jazz release its second-quarter results. It is perhaps these results, and maybe even the new leadership, which encouraged the company to focus on its core products and sell the women's health business. The first six months of 2012 saw Jazz deliver strong sales led by Xyrem, a prescription medicine used for the treatment of narcolepsy to reduce too much daytime sleepiness and reduce cataplexy (weak or paralyzed muscles) attacks. It seems natural that, in these difficult economic times, many people's sleep patterns will be knocked off the normal schedule thanks to a tremendous level of stress, and this sort of drug will sell through the roof, as has been the case. “We are particularly pleased by our year-over-year and sequential growth in adjusted net income, and we remain committed to our strategy of increasing sales of our current products, growing our product portfolio through corporate development and investing in focused development programs," said Cozadd. On Thursday morning, Jazz Pharmaceuticals traded at about $45, down roughly 1 percent.