Glenmark gains 2% on USFDA nod for Hydrocortisone Butyrate

Moneycontrol Bureau

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals gained more than 2 percent in late morning trade Monday as the pharmaceutical company received USFDA's nod for its Hydrocortisone Butyrate Cream USP, 0.1 percent - a generic version of Locoid Lipocream.

The cream which is used to treat skin diseases like eczema, dematitis and allergies, has annual US sales of USD 34 million, according to IMS Health sales data for the 12 months period ending June 2013.

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Glenmark will have 180-day exclusivity for the cream and will launch it by the end of the calendar year.

"In April 2011, the company had entered into a royalty-bearing license agreement with Triax Pharmaceuticals, Astellas Pharma Europe BV and Astellas Pharma International BV to settle a patent infringement suit against the commercialisation of generic version of Locoid Lipocream and agreed to launch in the year end of 2013," the company said in its filing.

Its product portfolio consists of 90 products authorised for distribution in the US marketplace and 53 abbreviated new drug approval's (ANDA) pending approval with the USFDA.

Meanwhile, the stock will be available in derivative segment of the NSE with effect from October 3, 2013.
 
At 11:43 hours IST, the stock was up 1.56 percent at Rs 531 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

(Posted by Sunil Shankar Matkar)