Alchemia gaining US share for anticoagulant

Alchemia's (ASX:ACL) anti-coagulant product, generic fondaparinux, is gaining US market share due to sales efforts of marketing partner Dr Reddy's Laboratories, says Bloomberg.

Dr Reddy's, an India-headquartered pharmaceutical company, is believed to have increased US sales of generic fondaparinux to $20 million for the March quarter. This represents a sequential increase of 120%.

These sales figures were provided in a Bloomberg report, as Dr Reddy's does not break down individual product sales.

However, in a conference call announcing its results, Dr Reddy's managing director Satish Reddy did say that the company is “pleased to see the improvements in the volumes of fondaparinux leading to higher market share in the coming quarter”, and expects this share to continue to grow in future.

He said the company has sufficient capacity to meet the demands of the US hospital and retail sectors, and is building capacity to meet anticipated demand in the EU.

Dr Reddy's last month filed for marketing approval to sell generic fondaparinux in key European markets.

Under the terms of its US marketing partnership with Dr Reddy's, Queensland-based Alchemia is entitled to a 60% cut on sales of generic fondaparinux.

Dr Reddy's is obliged to provide payment 60 days after the end of the quarter in which the sales are recorded.

Fondaparinux is the generic name for anticoagulant medication Arixtra, which is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline. It has been off patent in the US since 2002.

Alchemia produces generic fondaparinux using a patent-protected manufacturing method, involving producing the penetasaccharide sodium from monosaccharide building blocks.

In February, Alchemia revealed it was selling $1.4 million per week worth of the drug in the US.

Alchemia (ASX:ACL) shares grew 3.3% to $0.470 on Friday, the day the Dr Reddy's results were announced, and were trading unchanged by around 3pm on Monday.