PROSTRAKAN was last night one step away from being granted a patent for its key drug in the United States.
The Galashiels-based drug discovery firm said yesterday the United States Patent and Trademark Office had published a "notice of allowance" for a US patent on Sancuso, a patch that relieves the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.
Pr
oStrakan expects the patent to be issued formally "shortly", once the firm has paid an "issue fee", which analysts estimate to amount to $1,000 (£610).
Once granted, the patent will protect Sancuso until 2025, preventing rival firms from copying the drug in the US.
Patents already protect the drug in Japan and throughout the European Union.
Sancuso received a marketing authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration in September last year and was launched two months later.
Dr Wilson Totten, ProStrakan's chief executive, said: "Today's announcement, signalling the imminent grant of a US patent for Sancuso, represents a critically important achievement for the long term, protecting one of our key new drugs in the US, the world's largest pharmaceutical market."
He went on: "It is an important part of our strategy to move the business progressively into well differentiated, well protected products with clear patient benefits.
"The notice of allowance for the US patent is a key element in delivering this."
ProStrakan's patent was originally designed to be valid until February 2024, but a 373-day extension was granted to compensate for the time taken to grant the protection.
In a trading update in May, ProStrakan said it was selling 850 Sancuso patches a week in the US through its 82-strong sales team. In the first four months of the year, the firm reported a 40 per cent rise in sales.
Analysts at Singer Capital Markets, which acts as a market maker for ProStrakan, reiterated its "buy" recommendation on shares in the company following the patent announcement.
Singer is predicting US Sancuso sales of £13 million in 2009, growing to £80m by 2013 in what the broker believes will be a $1.4 billion US market.
Samir Devani, an analyst at Nomura Code Securities, said: "We view this announcement as positive for the company but unlikely to be significantly share-price moving."
Nomura maintained its "buy" recommendation on ProStrakan after the announcement.
Devani's share price prediction proved to be accurate, with ProStrakan's stock unchanged last night at 89p.
ProStrakan is due to post its interim results on 20 August.
