Bioton’s Singapore subsidiary, Sci Gen, has announced the signing of an exclusive worldwide agreement with ACL Biopharm (a commercial entity of biotechnology company CytoLab Ltd based in Israel) for bulk supply of GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) and EPO (erythropoietin). Both products will be manufactured by Intas Pharmaceuticals, based in India, and Sci Gen will formulate and package the products in its facility or through an outsourcing contract. The agreement calls for an option to secure the rights to manufacture the active biopharmaceutical substances, through a transfer of technology of which financial terms are yet to be agreed. The agreement is for 15 years with an option to renew. The world market for GCSF products is estimated for US$ 4bn and for EPO for US$ 10bn.
As a separate development, Bioton has reported signing two agreements with Bausch & Lomb Poland, a part of a leading global eye health company, for the distribution and marketing of ophthalmology Biodycyna and two other ophthalmology products. The value of Polish market for all these products is estimated at PLN 40m in 2005.
The first piece of news, out yesterday during the session, supported Bioton’s share price. We believe that both news should further positively impact trading today.