Axcan sees acquisitions, Helizide launch, expansions in Europe as growth drivers

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Eugene, Ore., Sept. 21 - Axcan Pharma Inc. intends to use acquisitions, the potential launch of Helizide and expansions in Europe to promote future growth in the company, Frank Verwiel, Axcan's president and chief executive officer, said Thursday at the Merrill Lynch global pharmaceutical, biotech & medtech conference.

The company also plans to grow its base business by adding new indications and line extensions to current products and to advance other drugs in its pipeline, he said.

Axcan is working toward gaining Food and Drug Administration approval of Helizide for eradication of Helicobacter pylori (Hp).

In clinical trials the drug has demonstrated that it has an eradication profile equal to the standard of care for Hp but is also effective in patients who are resistant to certain components of the currently available drugs, Verwiel said Thursday.

Axcan expects to launch Helizide in the first half of 2007.

"This will help us grow the organization going forward," Verwiel said.

The total market for Helizide in the United States is about $160 million, he told investors.

Axcan's strategy for growth through acquisitions involves gaining companies or adding products that are already on the market or have undergone proof-of-concept studies, he said.

The company plans to expand in Europe by building on its current operations in France, Germany and the United Kingdom as well as moving into Italy.

Deeper in its pipeline, Axcan is also developing NCX-1000 for treatment of portal hypertension. The drug is being tested in a phase 2a study that is expected to produce results next year.

"This really will be a go or no-go study in terms of what we have seen," Verwiel said.

Axcan announced on Wednesday that it has decided to discontinue its ITAX (itopride) program after the drug failed to meet its co-primary endpoints in the North American phase 3 trial of the drug.

Axcan is a specialty pharmaceutical company specializing in gastroenterology located in Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec.

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