Alchemia Limited is a listed Australian biotechnology company (ASX:ACL). The Company has particular expertise in chemistry, which it has applied to the discovery and development of human therapeutic products.
Highlights:
•Near term revenues expected from generic fondaparinux, currently the subject of an ANDA with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States
•US marketing agreement with Dr Reddy's, Inc for the marketing of generic fondaparinux, upon approval
•Positive results for HA-irinotecan in colorectal cancer Phase II trial; Phase III trial imminent
•Validation for HyACTtumour targeting platform with multiple product commercialisation opportunities
•VASTTM drug discovery platform offering novel chemistry and a novel approach to drug discovery
•VASTTM libraries being synthesised with the potential to address any target
Alchemia's antithrombotic drug, generic fondaparinux, is the Company's near term opportunity that targets the multi-billion dollar heparin-drug market and is expected to be generating revenues for the company in 2011. Fondaparinux has a superior safety and efficacy profile to the market leading drug Lovenoxand the brand-name fondaparinux drug Arixtra(marketed by GlaxoSmithKline) continues to gain market share. US sales of Arixtra in 2010 were $274 million.
In contrast to most generic drugs which are generally associated with low prices and low margins, Alchemia's product is likely to achieve comparatively high margins because the drug is notoriously difficult to synthesize and as a result, competition from other generics is expected to be limited.
