Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Sepracor-Looks very promising -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BMcV who wrote (3113)	6/1/1999 8:36:00 AM
From: BMcV	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10280

Royalties to begin with first sale. Did anyone else not know that SEPR was in phase 3 with this one? How many biotech companies can pull a rabbit out of their hat like these guys? from Reuters: UCB<UCBBt.BR>licence to offset Zyrtec patent loss BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) - Belgian chemicals and pharmaceuticals company UCB SA said on Tuesday that a licence agreement for patent protection on a new allergy drug will help offset the impact of the expiration from 2002 of patent protection on its star allergy drug Zyrtec. UCB earlier on Tuesday said it agreed to license from U.S.-based pharmaceuticals company Sepracor <SEPR.O> patent protection on the allergy drug levocetirizine, which is part of the same family of drugs as Zyrtec. UCB shares were up 0.81 euro or 1.92 percent at 42.91 euros on the Brussels bourse at 1123 GMT. Although levocetirizine was originally developed by UCB, Sepracor had started its own work on the same compound and won patent protection on the drug. "They have brought something new scientifically, so they have a patent," UCB spokesman Alain Douxchamps said. "We decided to work with them, because their patent expires in 2013," he added. Under the agreement, UCB was granted all of Sepracor's issued and pending patents on levocetirizine in Europe. UCB will pay Sepracor royalties beginning with first sales of the drug. Payments will rise as certain sales volume milestones are met. The license agreement does not involve the payment of any upfront fees by UCB, Douxchamps said. Levocetirizine, currently in Phase III clinical trials in Europe, is shown to have good efficacity at low doses, he said. UCB expects to file for European marketing approval for levocetirizine in 2000. "We expect the first drug registrations in 2002, maybe a bit before, a bit later," Douxchamps said. Under that timescale, the launch of levocetirizine would coincide with the expiration of UCB's Zyrtec patents. European patents on Zyrtec will begin expiring in 2002 in most countries, with expiration in France, Spain and Switzerland in 2004 and Italy in 2009. The U.S. and Japanese patents on Zyrtec expire in 2007. Expiration of patents mean the loss of market exclusivity, opening the market to competition from generic drugs. UCB has said that it expects sales of Zyrtec in 1999 to top $1 billion, including sales of at least $550 million in the United States. Sales of Zyrtec in 1998 totalled $760 million. UCB in 1998 had total sales of 1.6 billion euros, including pharmaceutical sales of 744 million euros. Douxchamps played down the impact of the expiration of the Zyrtec patents and the introduction of competing generic drugs. "It's very difficult to foresee," he said. "I think there is a preference of doctors and patients for an original drug. "We think we can maintain our sales in a certain way," he added. "We have done it in the past. We reinforce this by bringing in a new anti-allergy drug, levocetirizine, which is effective at a low dose." In addition, he said the market for allergy drugs is expanding rapidly in both Europe and the U.S., which could help boost the market for levocetirizine. But he admitted that sales of levocetirizine could cannibalise some of UCB's existing sales of Zyrtec.