Lotus Pharmaceutical Registers Increased Q1 Growth; Will Pursue Acquisitions, Product Diversification
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
SHANGHAI - Beijing-based Lotus Pharmaceuticals will further diversify its product portfolio and make acquisitions in the long term, the company said at the back of announcing increased growth figures over the first quarter ended March 31
|
SHANGHAI - Beijing-based Lotus Pharmaceuticals will further diversify its product portfolio and make acquisitions in the long term, the company said at the back of announcing increased growth figures over the first quarter ended March 31. In the first quarter of 2008, Lotus saw total revenues reach $11.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 41.3 percent. Gross profit stood at $3.9 million, a 50 percent year-over-year jump. Gross margin was up by 33.7 percent, compared to the 31.7 percent increase seen in 2007. "This growth is primarily due to the increase in wholesale revenue, which touched $9.8 million, accounting for 83 percent of total revenue and representing a 93.5 percent year-over-year increase," Lotus CEO Zhongyi Liu told PharmAsia News. "Increase in wholesale revenue was primarily on the back of sales of our brimonidine tartrate eye drops." Lotus develops and markets innovative products in China, and also controls and operates Beijing-based Liangfang Pharmaceutical and Enzhe Jiashi Pharmaceutical. The company is also engaged in wholesale and retail sale of OTC medicines through 10 retail pharmacies. Brimonidine tartrate eye drops are indicated for the treatment of glaucoma and Lotus has the rights to manufacture and sell the drug under the brand name of Mu Xin in China. Allergan Pharmaceutical also sells this drug in China under the name Alphagan. The company's retail revenue stood at $700,000 in the first quarter of 2008, representing a 36.4 percent year-over-year jump. "We also experienced a 93 percent increase in the sale of third-party manufactured pharmaceutical products which we distribute through our sales network," Liu said. Lotus signed a technology transfer agreement for Laevo-Bambutero with Dongguan Kaifa Biomedicine in May 2008. Under the terms of agreement, Lotus obtained the patent and the exclusive production rights for Laevo-Bambutero in China in exchange for a cash payment of 48 million yuan and a 3 percent royalty on product sales. Lotus intends to market Laevo-Bambutero as a better alternative to Bambutero for the treatment of asthma. The company plans to launch the drug by 2012, pending SFDA approval. "The agreement is definitely the start of the execution of our new strategy and we will continue to improve our R&D capacity," Liu said. "Our strategy is to continue advertising and promoting our best selling proprietary products in order to increase our sales and marketing efforts in China and leverage the widely recognized Mai Xin brand." "In addition, we recognized that drugs go through product life cycles and have been investing heavily in R&D to maintain a strong product pipeline," he added. Among Lotus' best selling products is the hypertension drug valsartan, which came into the U.S. market as Novartis' Diovan . The company's goal is to make valsartan the leading prescribed brand in its class of high blood pressure medications in China. In early 2006, Lotus aligned with an U.S.-based capital investment firm, Genesis Equity Partners, and began trading on the American stock exchange. "We will continue to seek opportunities to further diversify our product pipeline and make strategic acquisitions in the long term," Liu said. "Currently, we have a number of drugs in our development pipeline, targeting major diseases with large potential markets, such as cardiovascular drugs, pulmonary drugs, and hormone replacement." "Our product pipeline includes 14 late-stage drugs, which we are in the process of applying for SFDA market approval within the next few years," he added. - Ying Huang ([email protected]) |