Bioxel said that the new contracts, further details of which are not being released, are with a range of pharmaceutical firms and generics producers. The firm added that the deals are indicative of the growing demand for docetaxel ahead of its loss of patent protection in 2010.
The Quebec-headquartered firm said that it will be in a position to deliver the first good manufacturing practice (GMP) approved, commercial-scale lots of the drug to clients in the second half of the year.
Speaking at Bioxel’s quarterly results presentation, new CEO Olivier Meyer said that the new agreements and other work the firm has completed had positioned it for significant growth over the medium term.
He added that the firm has “sound intellectual property [rights] giving clients the rights to use docetaxel without infringing patents protecting the synthetic processes of the active ingredient of Sanofi-Aventis’ Taxotere.”
Meyer went on to say that Bioxel has a secured “long term supply of paclitaxel and docetaxel thanks to abundant Canadian yew resource,” which he added was an asset that is unique to the firm.
For the second quarter, Bioxel reported a net loss of $989,700, up from the $930,600 deficit it posted in the corresponding period last year. Revenue for the three months grew some 49 per cent to $353,800.
Paclitaxel Drug Master File
Bioxel also reported that, in response to the demand of a leading generic drug manufacturer, it has submitted an application registering a drug master file (DMF) for paclitaxel in 25 countries in the European Union.
While Bioxel declined to identify the generics producer in question, it did explain that the customer has a commercial footprint extending into Europe, North America, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
Having submitted the application, Bioxel said that it is confident that it will remain the supplier of choice of this customer for the development and marketing of its anticancer product.
Bioxel also revealed that it has completed the second delivery of a batch of paclitaxel to a major European generic drug manufacturer, having shipped the first lot of the API earlier in the year.
The firm reiterated that its manufacturing operations are on course to fulfil its customer’s production schedules.