Algorae Pharmaceuticals to Launch Five New Oncology Medicines in Australia-New Zealand Markets
Algorae Pharmaceuticals (ASX: 1AI) has entered into an exclusive licencing agreement with Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Sakar Healthcare to launch five generic oncology medicines into the Australian and New Zealand markets.
The products will be marketed under the Algorae brand to meet the needs of the combined market, which analysts value at approximately $10 million per annum.
Algorae has commenced regulatory planning for registration of the products with the Therapeutic Goods Administration on the pathway to commercialisation.
Vertically-Integrated Group
Sakar is a vertically-integrated pharmaceutical group specialising in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dosage forms, with a strong focus on oncology.
The company’s portfolio includes sterile injectables (liquid and lyophilised vials and ampoules), dry powder injectables, oral liquids, tablets and capsules, and emerging dosage forms.
Sakar exports to over 60 countries including regulated markets in Europe and across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Ahmedabad Site Visit
Algorae representatives recently conducted a site visit to Sakar’s manufacturing facilities in Ahmedabad as part of the due diligence process.
They met with Sakar senior management, operational leaders, and technical staff to confirm production capacity, quality systems, regulatory compliance, and alignment with Algorae’s strategic objectives.
Algorae chair David Hainsworth said the licencing agreement was the first step towards establishing a presence in Australia and New Zealand that would expand the company’s commercial footprint and position it for long-term growth.
“It will enhance patient access to trusted therapies and allow us to leverage Sakar’s established manufacturing capabilities in the production of high-quality oncology medicines.”
Oncology Validation Trial
The licencing agreement complements Algorae’s high-throughput validation trial at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria, which is working on the evaluation of 21 oncology drug targets generated by the AlgoraeOS AI drug discovery platform.
The trial is evaluating oncology-focused predictions across the brain, pancreas, breast, and prostate cancer cell lines.
It will focus on optimisation of cell growth kinetics and drug toxicity parameters, in vitro assessment of drug combination synergies, and analysis of synergies across empirically-tested drug combinations, leveraging the ‘lab in the loop’ paradigm to enhance the predictive accuracy of AlgoraeOS.
Algorae expects to receive results from the trial before year end.