TaiGen Signs Deal With ScinoPharm To Use Burixafor APIs
Drug manufacturer TaiGen Biotechnology has announced that it has signed an agreement to use ScinoPharm Taiwan’s active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, to make stem cell mobilizer, Burixafor. The drug is used in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, chemotherapy sensitization, and other ischemic diseases. The drug is expected to help TaiGen attain 40 percent of the blood and marrow transplant drug market, earning the company a potential 500 million in addition to $600 million in sales of chemotherapy enhancers, the Taipei Times says. Burixafor sales alone are expected to reach $1.1 billion within a year.
Burixafor was discovered and developed by TaiGen. Industry analysts say that the deal is indicative of Taiwan’s growing global pharmaceutical presence, as domestic companies cooperate and become more specialized. ScinoPharm is set to manufacture the APIs at the company’s Changshu, China factory, in addition to running the Burixafor drug’s clinical trials. The Taipei Times says that the two companies will most likely continue to collaborate after the drug passes clinical trials, even though the current contract does not run past the clinical trial stage. TaiGen has already completed phase 2 clinical trials in the US for the Burixafor drug. The next step for the drug is to undergo phase 3 trials in the US. TaiGen is currently looking for partners for that process.
Dr. Jo Shen, the President and CEO of ScinoPharm, released a statement on the deal. “This cooperation with TaiGen is of representative significance in the domestic pharmaceutical companies' upstream and downstream cooperation and self-development of new drugs, and indicates the Taiwanese pharmaceutical industry's cumulative research and development momentum is paving the way forward,” he said. He went on to say that the company’s Changshu Plant would allow for competitive manufacturing that would help clients to break into international markets.
Dr. Ming-Chu Hsu, the Chairman and CEO of TaiGen, says that the drug has a number of different potential uses for various intractable diseases.