When Johnson & Johnson acquired Alza Corp. [See Deal] one of the objectives of this $13 billion acquisition was to apply the drug delivery company's technology to its own pipeline—improving existing products or resurrecting compounds. One project prominently mentioned by both Alza and J&J: expanding the uses for topiramate (Topamax), J&J's $700 million epilepsy drug, particularly as an obesity treatment. In the high doses required for an obesity drug, Topamax wasn't well tolerated, causing such adverse events as fatigue and abnormal vision. The idea was to have Alza create a controlled-release version of the drug to see if it could optimize performance.
Meanwhile chemists from the form and formulations start-up TransForm Pharmaceuticals Inc. had already begun generating novel crystalline forms of...