Phil Bates of Cincinatti was the latest biotech
scientist to be murdered in cold blood. I wouldn't
have known about it - and it's likely this one would
have gone by unnoticed by researchers in general - if
I hadn't been looking into the Comair crash.
His still-unsolved murder took place the night before
the disaster in Lexington that left 49 passengers
dead. A magical symbol was left at the scene of the
murder.
The names Aventis (the bird-flu vaccine *scam* folk),
Warren Buffett (who owns a chunk of Aventis) and
Khashoggi have already surfaced in connection with the
Comair crash. Here they are again in a seemingly
unrelated case. The murder of Phil Bates is related to
the Comair crash via these connections.
- AC
-------------------
Husband Of School Board Member Shot To Death
Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Liz Foreman
Photographed by: 9News
First posted: 8/27/2006 8:33:07 AM
Last updated: 8/27/2006 9:58:13 AM
A Cincinnati school board member's husband is dead
after being found shot on his front porch Saturday
night.
A neighbor told 9News they heard one shot fired, then
heard a woman scream around 1 a.m. That neighbor
called 911.
Once police arrived to the Rose Hill Avenue home, they
found Phillip Bates suffering from a single gunshot
wound - he later died at the hospital.
Phillip Bates, 55, was the husband of Melanie Bates.
Melanie and her daughter rode downtown with police
after the shooting. There is no word from the family.
There is no word about who shot Phillip Bates or how
the shooting happened.
The following is the full text from a Cincinnati
Police press release:
CINCINNATI POLICE DEPARTMENT ?CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
SECTION ?MEDIA RELEASE ?August 27, 2006
Homicide Unit Investigation
On August 27, 2006, at 1241 a.m., District Four police
officers responded to a reported shooting in the area
of Clinton Springs and Rose Hill Lane. Upon arrival,
police officers discovered an unconscious white male
mortally wounded from a gunshot lying on the front
porch of 3937 Rose Hill Avenue.
The victim, identified as Mr. Phillip M. Bates MW 55
(DOB: 2-1-51), was transported to University Hospital
where he was pronounced dead.
Anyone with information about this offense is asked to
call the Criminal Investigations Section at 352-3542
or CRIMESTOPPERS at 352-3040. Callers may remain
anonymous and may receive compensation for their
information.
---------------------------
Medallion Left At Bates Murder Scene May Hold Clue
["Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as
a humpbacked flute player (often with a huge phallus
and antenna-like protrusions on his head), who has
been venerated by many Native American cultures in the
Southwestern United States. Like most fertility
deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and
agriculture. He is also a trickster god." - Wikipedia]
Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
Photographed by: 9News
First posted: 9/4/2006 10:40:24 PM
Last Updated: 9/4/2006 11:15:42 PM
Police hope new evidence will give them a break in the
Phillip Bates murder case.
Cincinnati police are hoping that someone will
recognize a key chain medallion or pendant left at the
scene of the murder.
Police say it is in the shape of a "kokopelli" and
that it may have been on a key chain.
Homicide detectives found it at the scene after Bates
was shot to death outside his home on Rose Hill Avenue
in North Avondale over one week ago.
----------------------------
http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/08/27/bates_murder.html
Husband Of School Board Member Shot To Death
The senselessness of the shooting is what is
astounding to his friends because they say there would
be no point in harming Phil Bates.
Bates was a chemist for many years and worked in
quality assurance at PATHEON Corporation here in
Cincinnati.
----------------------
Khashoggi Connection: On the Patheon Board of
directors
http://www.patheon.com/investor/corporategovernance.htm
Gregory C. Wilkins Mr. Wilkins is Chief Executive
Officer and President and a Director of Barrick Gold
Corporation.
---------------------
Patheon is an Aventis Partner
http://www.advancesinlifescience.com/news_29.htm
Patheon buys Aventis site in US
16 October 2002 - News Editor
Patheon’s strategic platform launched in US
$30m deal provides 530 pharma manufacturing jobs and
introduces a ’second tier’ in outsourcing structure
Patheon Inc. based in Mississauga, Toronto in Canada
will provide long-term manufacturing and supply
services to Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a deal
where Patheon buys the Aventis pharmaceutical
manufacturing and development site located in
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
The agreement means Patheon provides employment to all
530 employees while continuing to manufacture and
supply all Aventis products currently produced at the
site.
Patheon will also take over from Aventis existing
service contracts with ten third-party pharmaceutical
companies.
Bob Tedford, CEO of Patheon Inc. sees the US as an
important market for Patheon. "The Cincinnati site
will bring a conveniently located operating presence
to serve that market." ...
The facility is located on a life sciences campus,
which incorporates the University of Cincinnati
Genomics Research Institute and a development scale
manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients
Projected revenues in the first 12 months of operation
will be in the range of US $95 million. About 28% of
this will be from manufacturing and supply agreements
with Aventis that have an initial term of five years
with renewal provisions.
http://www.governor.ohio.gov/releases/Archive2002/101602patheon.htm
GOVERNOR APPLAUDS PATHEON'S U.S. EXPANSION PLAN
Canadian Drug Company To Acquire Ohio Operation, Hire
150 Researchers
CINCINNATI (October 16, 2002) - Governor Bob Taft
today commended Patheon, Inc. of Canada on its plan to
invest $62 million to acquire and expand Aventis
Pharmeceuticals' operation in Reading (Hamilton
County).
-----------------------
As a result the Canadian company has appointed a
special committee to “evaluate strategic and financial
alternatives” while putting on hold its search for a
new CEO, a tell sign that the sale of the firm is one
of the options considered.
Patheon acquired Puerto Rican drug manufacturer MOVA
for $350m in late 2004, attracted by Puerto Rico's low
corporate tax rate and low labour costs, but has
struggled to streamline operations since then.
The most serious problem in the third quarter in
Puerto Rico occurred at the Caguas facility, where it
was discovered that some batches of an undisclosed
product might not achieve their expected shelf life.
Patheon decided to temporarily stop production, and
after considering data accumulated from stability
studies conducted throughout the month of August, the
company took corrective actions and in early September
it allowed the release of shipments of finished
product representing approximately 90 per cent of the
total production volumes.
Meanwhile, an inactive ingredient for a different
product made at the Carolina facility was temporarily
unavailable, though this did not disrupt the client's
inventory and the situation has now been remedied.
Additionally, there has been a year-over-year decline
in volumes of a generic product manufactured in Puerto
Rico as one of Patheon's clients lost a major account
earlier this year, while volumes of Merck's
blockbuster cholesterol drug Zocor (simvastatin) have
also dropped due to its patent expiration last summer.
All these issues, in conjunction with the cost of
corrective action the company had to take to address
production issues with Abbott's antibiotic Omnicef
(cefdinir), were responsible for earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
in Puerto Rico of $3.5m in losses in the third
quarter, compared with a positive EBITDA of $4.8m in
the same period last year.
Even if it wasn't for Puerto Rico and the $254.7m
impairment charge that wiped off Patheon's earnings,
the company would have still shown a net loss of
$13.6m from a $13.2m net profit a year ago.
This is because the efficiencies and cost savings in
Patheon's global manufacturing operations promised
last quarter with the launch of a vague “Performance
Enhancement Programme” have not yet materialised; as a
percentage of revenues, the EBITDA margin was 8.5 per
cent in Q3 2006, compared with 14.5 per cent in the
same period a year ago.
In Canada for example, gains from higher capacity
utilisation, particularly at the Whitby and Toronto
York Mills facilities, were small and offset by the
impact of the strengthening of the Canadian dollar, so
EBIDTA there dropped $0.2m to $6.6m.
Across the pond in Europe, gains in sterile product
volumes at the two manufacturing sites in Italy were
offset by declines in mature product volumes at
Swindon, UK and Bourgoin-Jallieu, France, resulting in
an EBITDA of $8.3m, a $1m year-on-year decrease.
Nevertheless, in a conference with financial analysts,
Patheon's president Nick DiPietro defended the
restructuring scheme.
“A lot of work has been done by the company over the
past three months, we have come up with a
restructuring initiative in consultation with an
outside firm that has solved many problems, like
eliminating backorders at Whitby, and we will launch
the same programme in Puerto Rico,” he said.
“A more detailed plan with more comprehensive
initiatives will be shown to the committee to consider
within the context of the whole strategic review we
are undertaking.”
Even if Patheon is not put up for sale, the company's
5,900 employees who work at 14 facilities in North
America and Europe fear that reforms may cut many
jobs.
Yet there is some consolation in that revenues jumped
6 per cent to $189.2m, driven by commercial
manufacturing services for prescription drugs in
Europe, over-the-counter manufacturing in North
America and product development services (PDS) growth
in both North America and Europe.
In PDS, Patheon's EBITDA was $5.9m, up $1.6m
year-on-year, mainly thanks to the Swindon unit where
additional laboratory space was brought on line in Q3.
Moreover, the transfer of products into Italy and
France from two carve-out initiatives has reached its
final stages, while there has also been progress in
the construction of a new facility in Swindon
dedicated to lyophilized cephalosporins, as the
equipment and the operating systems have been fully
commissioned, validation batches are expected to be
completed in October and the site is on track for
commercial production in August 2007.
Looking ahead, Patheon did not issue specific guidance
but said that revenues in the fourth quarter of 2006
are expected to be slightly lower than the third
quarter.
In Canada, there will be a reduction in volumes at the
Whitby facility as the backorder position has been
resolved, while in Europe, results will be impacted by
normal summer shut downs, the company suggested.
The future in Puerto Rico looks brighter, since
shipments have resumed of the product manufactured in
Caguas for which stability-related issues had been
previously identified and volumes are also expected to
increase in Carolina as clients build inventory levels
in preparation for the cough and cold season.
----------------------
Patheon's Financial Woes are Due to PHARMACEUTICAL
QUALITY CONTROL Problems.
Philip Bates was a quality control chemist... was his
murder related to a contaminated or unstable
pharmaceutical product the company, or its partner
Aventis, is putting on the market. Read all about it
...
Patheon's future up in the air as profits plummet
http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/nl/arc/IPd_2006-09-25.htm
By Gregory Roumeliotis
25/09/2006 - Patheon’s move to Puerto Rico is shaping
up to be the worst decision the contract manufacturer
has ever made, resulting in massive losses in the
third quarter of 2006 and leading management to
entertain the possibility of a sell-out.