Market for Amryt drug ‘worth as much as €140m’
THE market for an anti-cholesterol drug produced by Irish pharma company Amryt could be worth as much as €140m, it has been claimed.
Amryt announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with France’s Comite economique des produits de sante (Ceps) for the reimbursement of Lojuxta.
The Dublin-based company’s drug will be used to treat adult patients suffering from homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HOHF), a rare life-threatening genetic disease. Lojuxta can reduce low-density cholesterol, often known as “bad cholesterol”.
Sales of Lojuxta increased by 14.6pc year on year to €6.6m in the first six months of 2018. Amryt — headed by CEO Joe Wiley — secured a four-year extension to the patent of the drug, bringing it up to 2028, within its five European markets, namely France, England, Germany, Spain and Italy.
In a note, Davy said that it estimated the “addressable HOHF market to be worth around €140m”.
That estimation was echoed by the company in its interim results earlier in the year, where it suggested the market for HOHF sufferers to be worth as much as €125m.
Entry to the French market during the week was praised by US analyst Stifel, which reiterated its recommendation to buy shares in the company.
“This should help support continued growth of Lojuxta and validates Amryt’s strategy of growing the product through both improved reimbursement and geographic expansion,” Stifel said in a note. “We continue to forecast sales of Lojuxta of €15m in 2018 and peaking at €36m by 2023,” it added.
The results of Amryt’s clinical trials into a drug aimed at tackling recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a condition that weakens the skin and makes it prone to blistering, are expected before the end of the year.