TaiGen Biopharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (太景醫藥研發控股) last quarter swung into a net loss of NT$102 million (US$3.34 million) due to falling revenue, and high research and development expenses.
That compared with a net profit of NT$60.45 million in the second quarter on the back of a one-time milestone payment of US$5 million for its hepatitis C drug Furaprevir.
However, last quarter’s losses contracted 17 percent from a year earlier thanks to a 36 percent decline in non-operating costs to NT$36.76 million, the Taipei-based company said.
Revenue fell 3 percent from a year earlier to NT$4.79 million during the July-to-September period, as sales of its oral formulation of antibiotic Taigexyn, used for pneumonia treatment, slowed down due to fewer patients in the hot season, TaiGen told an investors’ conference in Taipei on Tuesday.
Net losses totaled NT$96.37 million in the first three quarters of this year, down 61 percent from net losses of NT$247 million a year earlier, company data showed.
Losses per share were NT$0.13, compared with NT$0.35 a year earlier.
TaiGen said sales of Taigexyn would rebound this quarter, as pneumonia cases are expected to increase over the winter.
Revenue last month rose 2.4 times annually to NT$5.5 million, thanks to massive purchases of the drug by its local marketing partner, Holding Disp Co Ltd (文德藥業), TaiGen said.
“Overall, the sale of Taigexyn posted rapid growth in China and in Taiwan this year, but there is still a cap on the drug’s sales, as it has not been included in the public health insurance program in China,” Taigen chairman Philip Huang (黃國龍) said.
The company has negotiated with Chinese regulators to have Taigexyn included in the insurance program and is awaiting their decision, Huang said.
The drug last year was added to the National Health Insurance program.
As for the intravenous formulation of Taigexyn, which TaiGen has said would be more popular and profitable than the oral formulation, the firm reiterated that it could start selling the drug in China next year, as it expects to gain marketing approval soon.
Meanwhile, TaiGen has submitted a pre-investigational new drug application to the Chinese National Medical Products Administration for its new anti-influenza drug TG-1000, Huang said.
The new drug would be a more effective treatment than the anti-flu drug oseltamivir, which is sold under the brand name Tamiflu, as people can take TG-1000 within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms, while Tamiflu has to be taken within 48 hours, Huang said.
If the new drug’s application and clinical trials proceed smoothly, it could obtain marketing approval in three to four years, he added.
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