QDIS Blog

I spent some time working in Seattle and still keep a close eye on the biotech industry there. I was glad to see that Zymogenetics has submitted a new drug application (NDA) to the FDA for Thrombin. Thrombin is a genetically engineered human protein that inhibits bleeding.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: ZymoGenetics seeks OK to market drug

I do have a former colleague of mine who now works for Zymogenetics and I do like to see them prosper. Having said that, I am a little concerned that the patient size was fairly small; 411 patients, only half of which were on their drug, the other half received the standard of care; that being a cow derived product . They both worked equally well but those treated with the genetically engineered product did not develop antibodies to the protein; only 1.5% in the Thombin group vs 22% treated with the cow derived product.

The market for the drug is not huge; King Pharmaceuticals’ Thombin-JMI is about $250 million per year in sales. Zymo’s Thombin product will likely replace most of that and have some growth perhaps being a $400-500 a year product. Zymo’s product is being manufactured under contract with Abbott and there are no capacity limits as there is with the KIng Pharmaceutical product.

Technorati Tags: Zymogenetics, Thrombin

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