Demand boosts Biota
Geoff Easdown
April 27, 2007 12:00am
GROWING demand for the anti-flu drug Relenza caused an 8.6 per cent spike yesterday in Biota Holdings shares, the single biggest gain by the stock in 12 months.
The market shift came after Biota reported that royalties derived from global sales of Relenza had more than doubled to $16 million during the three months to March 31.
The result, an $8.7 million improvement on the previous quarter, takes Biota's total royalties from the drug for the past three quarters to $28.7 million.
Shares in the Melbourne-based business shot up 9.3 per cent after the announcement to $1.77 before easing to $1.76, reflecting a gain of 14, or 8.64 per cent in yesterday's market.
Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline, which holds the worldwide licence to produce and sell Relenza, said the drug earned $220.8 million during the three months to March.
Yesterday's announcement marked a major shift in demand.
Relenza, for many years, has failed to achieve the sales Biota and GSK expected.
Tamiflu, a rival product produced by Roche Laboratories, has outsold Relenza and taken a worldwide lead.
Biota blames GSK for the past sales slump and is suing the drugs giant in the Supreme Court of Victoria
Biota alleges that Relenza's previous poor sales can be attributed to GSK's failure to give proper promote sales support to the drug, a claim that GSK denies.
But the new demand for Relenza has been sparked by the onset of bird flu, with overseas health authorities creating drug stockpiles to treat future bird flu outbreaks.
Yesterday Biota chief executive Peter Cook said Relenza was now the 14th largest product, ranked by turnover, in the GSK stable.
"This progress is most encouraging," he said.
QUELLE: Herald Sun - Australien
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