SiliconBeat

The plug will be pulled early on a promotion deal Depomed, the Menlo Park drug developer, had with Watson Pharma for marketing Depomed’s extended-release formulation of ciprofloxacin for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections. The deal, which was to last until 2010, will end this year instead, on Dec. 31, and maybe sooner.

Watson had been given an exclusive right back in July 2007 to market the drug to doctors in urology and obstetrics/gynecology specialties in return for a promotion fee based on gross sales.

Depomed got a new major shareholder earlier this month when Kings Road Investments converted 18,158 shares of the company’s preferred stock it owned into 2.9 million shares of the Menlo Park developer of drug-delivery technology. The stake made the London-based investor Depomed’s third largest shareholder.

But the investors stake didn’t come cheap, despite the fact that Depomed shares have fallen more than 40 percent Read the rest of this entry »

When Carl Pelzel took over as drug maker Depomed’s chief executive on August 24, he was given a number of option awards, including one that curiously was to be granted “as soon as reasonably practicable after January 1, 2008, and in no event later than March 31, 2008,” that would have “an exercise price equal to the August 24, 2007 Closing Price” of $1.98.

That sounded odd to us, like a pre-determined agreement to grant an option in the future that was priced in the past.

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