Dragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCBB – DRUG.OB) today announced that it has entered into a marketing and licensing agreement with Boryung Biopharma Company, Ltd. of Seoul, Korea for the distribution of recombinant Erythropoietin (EPO) in North and South Korea. According to the agreement, Boryung Biopharma will also be responsible for obtaining marketing for EPO from the Korean Ministry of Health.
Established in 1991, Boryung Biopharma, a subsidiary of Boryung Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., has developed and now markets vaccines for influenza, typhoid fever, and hepatitis B. Boryung Pharmaceutical, a public company with year 2000 revenues in excess of US$220 million, is a major provider of dialysis fluids in Korea and plans to establish a nationwide chain of approximately 50 dialysis centers by 2006.
The Boryung Biopharma agreement is an important addition to the international marketing agreements that Dragon has established with regional pharmaceutical distributors during 2001. Dragon’s EPO has been approved to date in China, India, Egypt and Peru for use in the treatment of anemia related to chronic renal failure. Additional product registrations are in progress throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Assuming that Dragon receives marketing approvals in some of these territories as anticipated and that EPO market conditions remain the same, the company anticipates sales of between US$15-20 million during 2002. However, no assurances can be given that these anticipated revenues will be achieved and Dragon makes no undertaking to update this revenue estimate in the future.
