Venus gets US patent for antibiotic product

Pharma firm Venus Remedies Ltd today said it has got US patent for Potentox, used for pneumonia other infections and is looking at increasing presence in the $12 billion antibiotic market in America.

Granted by US Patent and Trademark Office, this is the third patent which the Panchkula-based company has received. The patent provides an exclusivity period for Potentox till May 2027.

Earlier, the company got patent for Vancoplus and Elores, both antibiotic products.

Venus said Potentox is an antibiotic adjuvant entity (AAE), a new drug product effective in case of hospital acquired pneumonia and other infections such as Febrile Neutropenia and Quinolones or Aminoglycoside resistant cases.

It said the drug works synergistically on multi-drug resistant bacteria to halt its development and spread.

"Potentox US patent has reinstated our capability to bridge the unmet need in the field of antibiotics that would also help in getting the product commercialised in the US markets. We have already initiated for strategic tie-ups with global pharma giants," said company’s Vice President-Venus Medical Research Centre (VMRC), Mufti Suhail Sayeed said in a release here today.

The company's JMD & Director- Research Manu Chaudhary said, "We have done clinical studies on more than 500 patients, which has indicated approximately 20-30% reduction in the cost of therapy as compared to conventional therapies being used.

Besides, studies conducted in hospitals across India have also shown that our novel antibiotic Potentox is suitable for the treatment of Nosocomial Pneumonia and Febrile Neutopenia infections."

Globally, the antibiotics market generated sales of $42 billion in 2009, representing 46% of sales of anti- infective agents (which also include antiviral drugs and vaccines) and 5% of the global pharma market.

However, the antibiotics market, which is maturing, showed an average annual growth of 4% over the past 5 years. Of this, the US alone contributes 35% of market share which is $12 billion, the company said.

Venus has already been marketing this product in India and few of the emerging markets around the globe.

The product has been growing with a CAGR of 50% since past three years, it said.