Delivery of the affinity adsorbent, Mimetic Ligand, is scheduled for the fourth quarter and ProMetic anticipates it will lead to a long-term supply agreement. Recurring purchases would help ProMetic boost sales in Asia and from biosimilars, two markets it thinks its products can benefit biopharm.
“ProMetic's products and process expertise enable our customers to produce lower-cost high quality biosimilars and achieve substantial benefits even in the most highly competitive and cost conscious emerging markets”, Steve Burton, CEO of ProMetic Biosciences, the company’s UK subsidiary, said.
The unnamed biosimilar treats a disease affecting ‘hundreds of thousands of patients’. Sales of affinity adsorbents used in this type of commercial use generally range from CA$3m (€2.2m) to $5m a year, ProMetic said.
Winning this business would add to revenues ProMetic is already generating in China. In May ProMetic expanded its partnership with Wuhan Institute of Biologic Products and made CA$11,000 of sales in China during the second quarter.
“China's pharmaceutical industry is growing rapidly and shows great potential for our process chromatography product range”, Steve Profit, head of business development at ProMetic, said. Asia, and in particular China, and global biosimilars producers are viewed as opportunities by ProMetic.
Mimetic Ligand demand
Sales of Mimetic Ligand will likely play a role in taking these growth opportunities. In July ProMetic won a CA$4m follow-on purchase of Mimetic Ligand as part of a long-term supply agreement with a global pharma company. The deal began in 2009.
Mimetic Ligand is a purification platform that works by capturing multiple targeted proteins. These proteins are then separated to ‘achieve greater yields with high levels of purity’. ProMetic claims this can cut drug purification costs.