Bioton and GSK in talks about new collaboration agreements

Bioton announced that it has signed a letter of intent with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to negotiate collaboration agreements for the commercialisation by GSK of the Polish firm’s insulin products in a number of foreign markets, mainly developing and emerging ones.

The document grants GSK exclusivity until 28 February to negotiate with Bioton the terms of supply, licensing and other agreements involving the Polish firm’s insulin products, including insulin analogs and insulin pens, on the following markets: the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, Asia and the Pacific (excluding Japan and China), the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

The news comes less than a month after Bioton signed an agreement with GSK giving the global pharma firm exclusive rights to the marketing, distribution and sale of Gensulin, its flagship human insulin product, and Gensupen, its insulin pen, on the Russian market, for a period of 15 years.

Bioton is also in talks about similar agreements with Actavis.

Bioton Sees Swing to Profit on Higher Insulin Sales

(Bloomberg) -- Bioton SA, Poland’s largest insulin maker, said it will report net income this year after a record loss in 2009, helped by higher sales in China, Russia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Bioton, which today reported a 2009 loss of 466.5 million zloty ($160.6 million) on asset write-offs, forecasts profit of 94 million zloty this year, the Warsaw-based company said in separate regulatory statements today.

The company expects to benefit from an agreement last year with Bayer Schering Pharma AG under which the German drugmaker will distribute Bioton’s insulin in China. The Polish company reiterated plans to sign similar deals this year for Russia and countries in the Asia-Pacific region it didn’t name, and said sales are set to rise 26 percent to 363 million zloty this year.

In another statement today, Bioton, controlled by Polish investor Ryszard Krauze, said it signed an earlier announced deal to sell its antibiotics unit to Poland’s Polpharma SA for 80 million zloty. Polpharma will pay 25 million zloty within three days from yesterday and the remaining part once the transaction, subject Polpharma meeting legal requirements to produce the drugs, is completed.