Onyx Makes a Profit and Management Takes the Cash

(MoneyWatch)  Onyx finally made a profit last year -- the first time the cancer drug developer has gone into the black in the last five years. It made $1.9 million and returned just 3 cents a share, on revenues of $194 million. Those revenues were nearly double the year before as Onyx's deal with Bayer on the drug Nexavar fully kicked in.

Could that profit have been any higher? Yes, it could, had not the top executives at the company gotten such hefty raises in compensation. In 2007, the company's four named executives received $6.8 million between them. In 2008, those top four had become the top six, and they shared $11 million in total compensation. In other words, executive compensation was roughly five times the profits the company returned to shareholders.

Now, Onyx has some excuses: They replaced a CEO, added an HR chief and a corporate development chief. But those moves were offset somewhat by the fact that the new CEO, N. Anthony Coles, was paid $2.8 million in total compensation even though he only arrived in March, whereas the outgoing boss, Hollings C. Renton, only earned $2.5 million before he left. Coles' basic salary nearly quadrupled over Renton's.

Here's the summary:

• Name, 2008 pay, 2007 pay
• CEO N. Anthony Coles, $2.8 million, NA
• Ex-CEO Hollings Renton, $2.5 million, $2.6 million
• CFO Gregory Schafer, $818,000, $690,000
• HR chief Judy Batlin, $937,000, NA
• COO Laura Brege, $1.7 million, $1.4 million
• Ex- chief medical officer Henry Fuchs, $2.2 million, $2.1 million
• SVP corp. dev. Juergen Lasowski, $1 million, NA Numbers are rounded, includes stocks and options whose value changes over time.

• See previous BNET stories on pharma executive compensation:
• Medarex Execs Got 10% Pay Raise Despite Delivering Nothing
• Sepracor CEO Got 44% Raise as He Planned 940 Layoffs
• Medicis Doubled Pay of Exec Convicted of Off-Label Sales
• Elan CEO Martin's Pay Cut by Half
• Mylan Execs Get 41% Raise; CEO Takes Company Jet on Vacation for "Security" Reasons
• Valeant Executive Pay Doubles to $19.7 Million Despite Quadrupling of Company's Losses
• Shire CEO Compensation Report Successfully Conceals CEO Compensation
• Wyeth CEO Got 69% Pay Raise; Was "Required" to Use Helicopter; Plus $24 Million Pfizer Sale Bonus
• BMS Execs Get Cash Not to Ride Private Jets; 61% Pay Raise to $59 Million
• Allergan CEO Pyott Received Pay Raise to $11.9 Million
• Abbott CEO White Takes a Pay Cut
• Gilead Executive Pay: Modest Raises for Outstanding Performance
• Gilead Deal Gives CV Therapeutics CEO $8.4 Million Payday Despite Lack of Profits
• Pfizer's Kindler Got $4.2 Million Pay Raise, Despite What Business Press Says
• Pfizer Execs' Golden Parachute Is Actually a Pay Cut
• Genentech's Levinson May Have No Change-of-Control Agreement in Roche Deal
• Amgen CEO Sharer: Options? No Thanks. I'll Just Take the Cash.
• Schering CEO Hassan Has $59 Million Buyout Agreement in Merck Merger
• Merck Executive Pay: $36 million, Use of Private Jet, Cash Bonuses Despite Failures
• Eli Lilly Execs Receive $48 Million in Pay; Plus Chairman Taurel Adds $40 Million Nest Egg
• Novo Nordisk Executive Compensation: A Picture of Modesty (Except for the Car Expenses)
• As Layoffs Begin, Wyeth Execs Get $75 Million Severance Package
• How Pharma's CEO Pay Packages Measure Up