Natco Pharma ties up with Akorn Inc

Hyderabad: Natco Pharma Ltd (NPL) has announced that it has entered into an alliance with the US-based Akorn Inc for supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and margin sharing to commercialise two ANDA (abbreviated new drug application) injectable drug products.

In a press release here, the company said the two ANDA drug products would focus on the anti-emetic and cancer related markets. These products have a combined current market size of approximately $875-million.

Under the API supply and margin sharing pact, Natco Pharma would be responsible for the supply of APIs for both drug products, while Akorn Inc would be responsible for the manufacturing, regulatory submissions, marketing and distribution in the hospital, clinic, and home healthcare markets in the US and Canada, the release said.

Akorn Inc, which manufactures and markets sterile speciality pharmaceuticals, has production facilities at Decatur, Illinois and Somerset, New Jersey.

According to the Akorn Inc President and CEO, Mr Arthur S. Przybyl, 'Natco has agreed to supply API for both products in exchange for a gross margin-sharing business relationship.'

The Natco Pharma Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Chowdary V. Nannapaneni, said, 'This agreement helps in bringing down development expense and compete with vertically integrated firms in a competitive generic business.'