AFT international growth
March 1, 2016
NEWLY listed Australasian
drugmaker company AFT
Pharmaceuticals yesterday
announced a major licensing deal
for its Maxigesic, which will see the
product available in 69 additional
countries across the globe.
The agreement, with privately owned
Swiss pharmaceutical
company Acino Pharma AG, will
allow Maxigesic to be out-licensed
in four geographic regions including
parts of the Middle East, Central
America and the Caribbean, as well
as northern and southern Africa.
AFT managing director Harley
Atkinson said the move was
foreshadowed in the prospectus
for the company’s recent float (PD
11 Dec 2015), with out-licensing
forming “the backbone of our
company growth plans.
“This transaction is a good
example of AFT just getting on with
the job by partnering with Acino...
we had disclosed our target to
sell Maxigesic to 100 countries in
the Product Disclosure Statement,
and these 69 countries in addition
to existing licensing agreements
represent significant progress”.
Atkinson said the agreement
also demonstrates that selling
AFT products to new international
markets doesn’t mean the company
has to set up its own costly
infrastructure in each territory.
“Rather, we can partner with
established companies, like Acino,
who know their respective markets
and already have an established
brand there”.
He said according to IMS the
tablet market for the paracetamol
and ibuprofen products alone is
worth at least US$500m annually.
Acino ceo Jostein Davidsen said
partnering was a key growth driver
for the company.
“Adding the Maxigesic fixed
combination formulations
to our product portfolio will
strengthen our offer in one
of our core therapeutic areas
- pain and rheumatology - as
these formulations are perfectly
complementary to our existing
well-established brands”.
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