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ThromboGenics reports slowdown of sales of main drug Jetrea
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[March 18, 2014]
BRUSSELS (Reuters)
— Belgian biotechnology
company ThromboGenics said late on Monday that sales in the United
States of its only drug, eye disease treatment Jetrea, had slowed in
the second half of 2013.
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 The company, which said last month it was exploring
its strategic options, said U.S. sales of Jetrea were 20.2 million
euros ($28.1 million) in 2013. The drug, only launched in January,
secured first-half sales of 12.2 million euros in the United States.
The group has a marketing agreement with Novartis unit Alcon outside
the United States but is selling eye drug Jetrea — a treatment for
vitreomacular adhesion, an ageing-related condition that can lead to
blindness — on its own in the United States.
ThromboGenics said it had reorganized its U.S. operations to focus
on establishing Jetrea as an earlier treatment for patients with the
disorder. It has also secured a permanent J-code for the drug, which
should assist in more automated claims for reimbursement.
The company's review of options is designed to increase the
commercial potential of Jetrea in the United States.
"2013 was a learning year. It is clear that ThromboGenics is not
just introducing a new product. It is in fact creating a new
standard of care, which is a more challenging goal," the company
said in a statement.
ThromboGenics said there were about 250,000 patients in the United
States annually with symptomatic VMA, which Jetrea seeks to treat.
Last year, about 7,000 received the drug there.
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The company received 90 million euros payments from Alcon
following the approval and first launch of Jetrea in Europe. It
received a further 1 million euros in royalties from non-U.S. sales.
With the money from Alcon, ThromboGenics ended the year with cash of
172.4 million euros, up from 148.2 million euros at the end of 2012.
($1 = 0.7180 Euros)
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Sophie Walker)
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