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Dow Jones Business News
Innovative Cos. Stock Up on Thyroid Drug-Making Patent Filing
Monday January 12, 3:19 pm ET
By Adam L. Freeman
NEW YORK -- Innovative Companies Inc.'s shares climbed to a new 52-week high Monday after the company said it filed an application to patent a system it says stabilizes the manufacture of a thyroid drug a number of companies have had to recall.
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In a prepared statement, the Lago, Fla., health-product maker said its Belcher Pharmaceuticals unit filed a patent for a new process to make levothyoxine sodium. The announcement comes as Belcher prepares to begin commercial production of levothyroxine sodium for animals this month.
The company also said it's working on an Abbreviated New Drug Application (News - Websites) to file with the Food and Drug Administration (News - Websites) , which would allow Belcher to manufacture and sell the human version of this drug.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - News) is the leading maker of levothyoxine sodium, which it calls Syntrhoid. The company logged $489 million is sales from Synthroid in 2002.
King Pharmaceuticals , Forest Laboratories and Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals Inc. also make the drug.
Levothyroxine is a naturally occurring hormone produced by the thyroid, aiding in normal metabolism. The hormone is also used to treat goiter, the enlargement of the thyroid gland.
At approximately 2:50 p.m. EST on the Nasdaq Stock Market (News - Websites) , shares of Innovative Companies traded up 22%, or $1.10, to $6.20. More than 382,000 shares have changed hands, compared with average daily volume of 63,000. Earlier, the stock hit a new 52-week high of $6.51. The previous high of $5.25 was set Dec. 30.
NDC Health, a provider of information to the health industry, has estimated that combined 2002 retail sales for all levothyroxine sodium tablets totaled $ 1.1 billion.
Innovative noted that because of "unique potency problems," millions of doses of this drug, from several manufacturers, have been recalled.
In early 2003, King Pharmaceuticals recalled more than 84,000 bottles of its Levoxyl because of subpotency issues detected during stability testing, according to the FDA. And Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc. -- a unit of Forest Laboratories -- recalled more than 35,700 bottles of its Levothroid because the tablets contained trace levels of the solvent isophorone.
Innovative Companies officials weren't immediately available for comment.
-By Adam L. Freeman; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5023
adam.freeman@dowjones.com |
