The patents on the drug are due to expire at the end of 2007, which will allow the biopharmaceutical company to develop generic Taxotere, which generated worldwide sales of $2.2 billion in 2005.
Pascal Delmas, president and CEO of Bioxel Pharma, said: “Bioxel will be sampling its clients with docetaxel API during the fourth quarter of 2006 and we plan to complete the validation of our manufacturing process in 2007. We thus confirm our objective to broaden our product line and bring two new products to market next year: semi-synthetic paclitaxel and docetaxel.”
In addition to accessing new markets, docetaxel and semi-synthetic paclitaxel will allow Bioxel to maximize utilization of its taxane manufacturing platform and thus, to improve significantly its competitive position.