TaiGen Biopharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (太景醫藥研發控股) on Wednesday said that it is venturing into the North American market through its partnership with Luminarie Canada Inc, which would develop and commercialize its antibiotic Taigexyn in Canada.
Luminarie would also help develop the drug in Australia and New Zealand, TaiGen said, after the two companies signed an exclusive licensing agreement, with Luminarie to assume all associated costs for the antibiotic’s development.
In exchange for the exclusive rights, Luminarie is to pay TaiGen milestone payments upon the achievement of the following: Luminarie’s application for marketing approval, application for a manufacturing drug license, obtaining marketing approval, obtaining a license and setting the drug price under the healthcare insurance system, TaiGen said.
Photo: Chen Yung-chi, Taipei Times
Luminarie would purchase Taigexyn at a pre-negotiated price from TaiGen for its commercialization, it said.
TaiGen did not reveal how much the milestone payments would be, or when its Canadian partner plans to apply for regulatory approvals in the three markets.
TaiGen also licensed Luminarie to seek another company that would commercialize Taigexyn in the US, to leverage the Canadian pharmaceutical company’s network in North America, it said.
“We are interested in Luminarie because we share the same innovative vision for Taigexyn,” TaiGen chairman Philip Huang (黃國龍) said in a statement. “By partnering with Luminarie, TaiGen would be able to tap into these developed markets where the need for such a novel antibiotic to treat drug-resistant infection is very high.”
The company’s business strategy is to work with foreign partners to expand into overseas markets, as they have stronger connections in the pharmaceutical environment abroad and better familiarity with regulations, a TaiGen official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday.
Through the partnership with Luminarie, TaiGen has expanded the drug into 35 markets, including Taiwan and China, said the official, who declined to be named.
Taigexyn is a safe and effective antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial infections, including those caused by drug-resistant bacteria, the company said.
TaiGen reported a cumulative revenue of NT$13.96 million (US$479,297) in the first eight months of the year, up 17.4 percent from a year earlier, as some doctors used Taigexyn to treat COVID-19 patients who also had bacterial infections, it said.
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