Biota Stays Positive - Biota Holdings Ltd - Brief Article

Business Asia, March, 2001

BIOTA HOLDINGS' chief executive officer Dr Hugh Niall says that despite the lower than expected half-yearly results for his company, he is optimistic about the future.

Biota, one of Australia's most internationally recognised pharmaceutical companies, has posted a lower than expected half year profit.

Biota reported a half year profit of $1.5 million on total revenue to December 2000, a 67 per cent drop down from profits of $4.5 million in the same period in 1999. The company's total revenue of $7.6 million also dropped from $8.9 million recorded the year before.

"As we enter the second influenza season with the new class of influenza drugs on the market, we and our competitors are continuing to learn more about the dynamics of the worldwide influenza market," he said.

"At half year, the reduced level of royalties from Relenza sales reflect a significant decline in market share in the United States, coupled with the lowest incidence of influenza for many years. At the same time, sales of our influenza diagnostic have tripled. It is becoming clear that the role of diagnostics in the respiratory disease marketplace is an increasingly important one."

Biota focuses on the research and development of new human drugs for the treatment of viral respiratory diseases. So far, Biota has marketed two products; Relenza, for the treatment of influenza, and FLU OIA, which is also a product developed for the treatment of respiratory viral infections like RSV.

Currently, Relenza is now approved in over 51 countries for therapeutic use and eight countries for prevention of influenza. Countries using the product for therapeutic purposes include the US, Europe and Japan.

Following in the footsteps of its initial success with Relenza, Biota is now keen to expand its research and target new areas of biotech development. The company is already involved in creating a second generation of its influenza drugs.