[1] The company's name comes from the adjective "cephalic" meaning "related to the head or brain", as it was established primarily to pursue treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
That expertise proved sufficient to attract investors, and the company managed to fund its operations through research grants and contracts with larger pharmaceutical firms.
"[5][better source needed] Commenting on this, Frank Baldino Jr., CEO of Cephalon, said, "The acquisition of Ception is consistent with our strategy to diversify into biologics and provides us with an important phase three asset for further development.
"[5][better source needed] At the time of Baldino's death in 2010, the company he had co-founded in 1987 was best known for the alertness drug Provigil, the painkiller Actiq, and the seizure disorder medication Gabitril.
venture capitalist William Egan, former COR Therapeutics CEO Vaughan Kailian, prominent healthcare economist Dr. Gail Wilensky, former SmithKline Beecham executive Dr. Martyn Greenacre, former Harvard physician and Glaxo USA head Dr. Charles Sanders and former Ambassador Kevin Moley.
[citation needed] In 1999 Cephalon settled a lawsuit for $17 million in which it had faced claims that Baldino and other company executives had overstated the potential for a drug aimed at treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease).