EX-99.2 7 d717084dex992.htm EX-99.2 EX-99.2

Exhibit 99.2

Set forth below is an excerpt of an e-mail and accompanying attachment sent on April 28, 2014 by Brent L. Saunders, President and Chief Executive Officer of Forest Laboratories, Inc. to employees of Forest Laboratories, Inc.

Subject: CEO Message to Colleagues

Dear Forest Colleagues,

This morning I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement to acquire Furiex Pharmaceuticals for $1.1 billion in cash (and up to $360 million in additional payments if certain conditions are met). The acquisition of this small, North Carolina based drug development company builds on our growing position in gastroenterology (GI) following our $2.9 billion acquisition of Aptalis in January and the launch of our combined GI sales force earlier this month. Through our strategy of building blockbuster line calls we are creating a leading GI company within Forest, making us even more relevant to gastroenterologists and primary care physicians.

Furiex’s leading drug candidate is eluxadoline, a first-in-class, locally-acting mu opioid receptor agonist and a delta opioid receptor antagonist for treating symptoms of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-d). IBS-d affects approximately 28 million patients in the United States and Europe. We believe eluxadoline will be very complementary to Linzess, our anchor GI product, and additive to our broader GI portfolio including Canasa, Carafate, Zenpep, Pylera and Rectiv. Because we are acquiring the company, we will also have broad geographic rights to eluxadoline in many countries around the world allowing us to expand our product offering in the US, Europe, Canada and potentially other markets. With eluxadoline, we expect to have one of the broadest product offerings for the $38 billion GI disease market.

So why are we so excited about eluxadoline?

In February, Furiex announced top-line results from two pivotal Phase III clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of eluxadoline in the treatment of IBS-d. Both trials met the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency primary endpoints based on simultaneous improvements in stool consistency and abdominal pain. What also makes eluxadoline unique is the fact that it is effective in both female and male patients compared to the currently marketed drug which is only approved for female IBS-d sufferers. Furiex is on track to submit a New Drug Application in the US for eluxadoline by the end of September 2014. And, on top of it all, eluxadoline has a patent life that extends to at least 2025, so we expect it will be an important part of the company for a long time.

Concurrently with our deal to acquire Furiex, we also announced a separate agreement to sell Furiex’s royalties on two products to Royalty Pharma for approximately $415 million upon successful completion of Forest’s acquisition of Furiex. This will allow us to stay very focused on our core businesses and preserve our cash so that we can deploy it to areas which are core to us, such as hospital, respiratory, cardiovascular, CNS, or Cystic Fibrosis.


At the end of the day, we believe that this is a great deal for Forest. It brings an exciting near-term product into our portfolio, it builds on a leading GI position, it expands our offering geographically, and gives us another enduring growth driver which can be a building block for success. One final positive about this deal, because Furiex only has about 30 employees, we do not expect this deal to be disruptive to current Forest colleagues.

I look forward to speaking with you more about the Furiex deal and our quarterly performance tomorrow at our previously planned town hall meeting. I hope you have a great day.

Regards,

Brent

Safe Harbor Statement

This letter contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including that the transactions may not be timely completed, if at all, that prior to completion of the transactions, Furiex’s business may experience significant disruptions due to transaction-related uncertainty or other factors, the timing and the benefits of the business combination transaction, the ability to obtain regulatory approvals of the transaction on the proposed terms and schedule, the requirement that Furiex’s shareholders approve the transaction, the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully, the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, the acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timing of Actavis plc’s acquisition of Forest, the timely development and launch of new products, and the risk factors listed from time to time in Forest Laboratories’ Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any subsequent SEC filings and Furiex’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any subsequent SEC 5 filings. Neither Forest nor Furiex assumes any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect new information or future events or developments. Each of Forest and Furiex intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the Safe Harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and is including this statement for purposes of complying with these Safe Harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies and expectations of each of Forest and Furiex, may be identified by use of the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “project,” or similar expressions. Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this document are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This announcement is neither a solicitation of a proxy, an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of Furiex. In connection with the proposed acquisition Furiex will file a proxy statement with the SEC. Additionally, Furiex will file other relevant materials with the SEC in connection of the proposed acquisition. The proxy statement and other materials that Furiex plans to file with the SEC will contain important information about Furiex, Forest, the


proposed merger and related matters. SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE, AS THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION AND THE PARTIES THERETO THAT SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING A DECISION ABOUT THE MERGER. In addition to receiving the proxy statement and proxy card by mail, shareholders will also be able to obtain the proxy statement, as well as other filings containing information about Furiex, without charge, from the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition, investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the documents Furiex files with the SEC by directing a written request to Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 3900 Paramount Parkway, Suite 150, Morrisville, NC 27560, Attention: Investor Relations. Copies of Furiex’s filings with the SEC may also be obtained at the “Investors” section of Furiex’s website at www.furiex.com.

Participants in the Solicitation

Furiex and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the security holders of Furiex in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about those directors and executive officers of Furiex, including their ownership of Furiex securities, is set forth in the proxy statement for Furiex’s 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 11, 2014, as supplemented by other Furiex filings with the SEC. Investors and security holders may obtain additional information regarding the direct and indirect interests of Furiex and its directors and executive officers in the proposed transaction by reading the proxy statement and other public filings referred to above.