Alchemia, Dr. Reddy's in Marketing Agreement

Australian drug-development company Alchemia announced it has chosen India-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories as its marketing partner for synthetic heparin.

Alchemia has granted Dr. Reddy’s the exclusive rights to market its synthetic heparin (fondaparinux sodium) in North America, with first right of refusal to market the product in the European Union once GlaxoSmithKline’s market exclusivity for Arixtra expires in 2012. Dr Reddy’s will also be responsible for the development of the active pharmaceutical ingredient as well as the finished product and all regulatory filings.

Alchemia CEO Tracie Ramsdale said Alchemia and Dr. Reddy’s would share profits equally from finished product sales, with Alchemia’s share increasing to 60 percent if sales of Arixtra exceed a certain level at the time of commercialization of its product. “We selected Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories because of its marketing capabilities and rapidly growing sales in several important markets including the U.S.,” Ramsdale said.

In a separate agreement, Alchemia has transferred the manufacturing rights from Dow Pharmaceuticals to Dr. Reddy’s. Dow, which successfully produced batches of synthetic heparin at pilot scale, will receive a royalty on Dr. Reddy’s sales of bulk synthetic heparin.