Melbourne-based pharmaceutical company Biota has been awarded a $231 million contract to develop a cure for influenza by a US anti-bioterrorism unit.


The lucrative deal means Biota may not need to partner with a large pharmaceutical company to commercialise its anti-viral drug, Laninamavir (Lani), in the US.

 

Chief executive Peter Cook said the contract was a "seriously transformational event for the company".

 

"We have taken this product much closer to marketability and towards realising the full value for our shareholders than we could in the past because it was necessary to licence out our drugs early," Dr Cook said.

 

“The award provides visible recognition of the potential medical value of laninamivir to the world’s major market. The BARDA contract will be a major contributor to a timely introduction of the product and will create the opportunity to significantly develop Biota’s business in the USA”.

 

Biota said it was scoping three facilities to see if they could meet stringent manufacturing specifications.

 

Lani, which is already prescribed in Japan under the brand name Inavir, is effective as a single dose compared with twice daily doses over five days for rival drugs Tamiflu and Relenza.

 

The US Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA), with which Biota has the contract, said the drug would provide "real advantages to doctors and patients during an emergency and would be an important addition to our pandemic influenza arsenal".

 

The funds will finance further clinical trials of the drug and be used to prepare a detailed application to meet the Food and Drug Administration's standards.

 

It could take five years or more before the drug gets the US regulator's nod.

 

The global market for anti-flu drugs was worth $US4.4 billion last year and Biota estimates it could be set to receive about $US1.5 billion from sales of Lani.

 

Further information is available at www.biota.com.au