Drug maker TaiGen Biotechnology Co (太景生技) on Tuesday said that its new antibiotic for treating community-acquired pneumonia is expected to hit the market in China by the end of this year.
“The review of our drug in China is under smooth progress, and we are confident for the drug to enter the market by the end of this year,” TaiGen chief executive and chairman Hsu Ming-chu (許明珠) said.
The company acquired a drug permit for nemonoxacin — trade name Taigexyn — in Taiwan last month.
It is currently in negotiations with the National Health Insurance Administration about the price of the drug, Hsu said.
The drug price set by the administration will serve as a guide for its price in other countries, she said.
TaiGen expects to acquire the drug permit in China by the end of next month, allowing the Center for Drug Evaluation in China to start examining the production of the drug.
The center will conduct onsite inspection for the drug manufactured by China-based Zhejiang Medicine Co (浙江醫藥集團), to which TaiGen licensed the sales rights in China in 2012, Hsu said.
The center will hand in both the drug permit and production permit to TaiGen and Zhejiang Medicine after they pass the inspection, she said.
TaiGen estimates the market value of nemonoxacin will be 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) in China.
Last year, the company posted a net loss of NT$432.19 million (US$14.01 million), or NT$0.66 per share, down from net loss of NT$478.19 million, or NT$0.81 per share, in 2012.
In the first quarter of the year, the company’s revenue was NT$48.32 million, up 1.9 times from NT$16.65 million the previous year because it booked the upfront payment for licensing nemonoxacin to Russia-based drug maker R-Pharm in January.
Sales of R-Pharm account for 30 percent of total drug sales to hospitals in Russia, TaiGen said.
Meanwhile, shares of SciVision Biotech Inc (科妍生技), which makes hyaluronic acid for use in plastic surgery and the treatment of degenerative joint diseases, rose about 7 percent to NT$73.8 yesterday after it announced a day ago that it has received approval in China to sell its Hya-Dermis products, which are used for plastic surgery.
The company will start selling the products in China in the third quarter of this year, after it seals deals with local distributors, an official of the company, who declined to be named, said by telephone yesterday.
Sales of Hya-Dermis products accounted for 30 percent of its revenue of NT$200.51 million last year, the official said.
It added that one-third of its sales of Hya-Dermis products were from sales in Japan and South Korea.
SciVision Biotech will compete with Switzerland-based Q-Med AB, South Korea-based LG Household & Health Care and another two Chinese companies in selling the products, she said.
Citing a report published by Morgan Stanley, the company said the market for cosmetic surgery in China will reach 200 billion yuan next year.
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