8th Sep 2015 09:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Vernalis PLC Tuesday said it has launched the first codeine-based cough and cold syrup in the US with its partner Tris Pharma.
Tuzistra XR is a codeine polistirex and chlorpheniramine polistirex based syrup used to orally treat cough and symptoms associated with upper respiratory allergies or a common cold in adults 18 years of age and older.
Tuzistra XR was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in April and is the only codeine-based extended-release cough cold syrup available to patients and physicians in the US, according to Vernalis.
The pharmaceutical company said the US cough cold prescription market is worth in excess of USD3.0 billion at current brand pricing with 30.0 to 35.0 million annual prescriptions.
Vernalis said the market is currently dominated by short-acting treatments which require four to six doses per day, whereas Tuzistra XR allows for extended drug delivery throughout a 12-hour dosing period, which was achieved using Tris Pharma's liquid sustained release technology.
Through its US subsidiary, Vernalis has a dedicated specialist US sales team focused on primary care promoting Tuzistra XR to physicians.
"The launch of Tuzistra XR marks a significant milestone in the transition of Vernalis to a commercial speciality pharmaceutical company," said Chief Executive Ian Garland.
"We believe the primary care market offers Vernalis a significant commercial opportunity and we plan to leverage our specialist sales platform with complementary products, to enable us to take a share of this large and growing market," he added.
Vernalis shares were up 4% to 81.88 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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