Lotus Pharmaceutical Co (美時製藥) yesterday said it has signed an exclusive marketing agreement with Finland-based Orion Oyj for the distribution of its drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease in select Asian markets.
Lotus is to help Orion sell and distribute its branded drug Stalevo in Taiwan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam, it said in a statement.
The company is also to sell Orion’s Comtan, another drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease, in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and South Korea, it added.
Novartis Pharma AG currently holds the rights to sell and distribute the two proprietary drugs in those markets.
Those rights are to be transferred to Lotus in the third quarter of next year, the firm said.
“Novartis marketed Stalevo as a second-line treatment for Parkinson’s disease in those countries, which are recommended by doctors when the first-line therapy does not work,” Lotus acting spokeswoman Nadiya Chen (陳荻雅) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
“However, Orion expects the drug to be used as a first-line treatment. That was the main reason why the Finnish company looked to change its marketing partner and sought our help,” Chen said.
Stalevo, which contains active pharmaceutical ingredients including levodopa, carbidopa and entacapone, has been used as a first-line drug in several overseas markets after Orion marketed the drug itself following its acquisition of the sales rights from Novartis last year, she added.
According to the agreement signed by Orion and Lotus, Orion would be responsible for manufacturing the products and the agreement would be in effect for five years following the first commercial sales.
Lotus expects sales of Stalevo to boost its revenue in the next few years, given the huge market for Parkinson’s treatment, Chen said.
The market was approximately US$1.04 billion across Asia last year and is estimated to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 6.8 percent, reaching US$1.44 billion by 2023, according to research firm Market Data Forecast, she said.
“Despite the heavy competition in Parkinson’s disease treatment, with many generic drugs in the market, we are confident about Stalevo and Comtan, as they are among the most frequently prescribed drugs,” Chen said.
Lotus sees Roche’s Madopar as Stalevo’s biggest rival in those Asian markets, but is not concerned about competition from generic drugs as many doctors and patients prefer branded drugs, she said.
While this is the first cooperation agreement between Lotus and Orion, the Taiwanese firm has partnerships with other companies to market their branded drugs, including Aclasta and Evista, which are used to treat osteoporosis, and Mercilon, a combined contraceptive pill.
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