VILLEPINTE, France, October 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Guerbet (GBT) announced today the signing of an agreement with Beijing Kyuan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., one of the major pharmaceutical drugs distributors & importers in the Chinese market, to distribute & commercialize Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid as from September 2015.
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Founded in 1995, Kyuan is part of the Shanghai Pharma group (SPH) - China's second biggest pharmaceutical distribution group - since 2011.
This agreement enables Guerbet flagship Interventional Radiology agent to benefit from Kyuan's outstanding experience in distributing pharmaceuticals on the hospital market.
Marie-Claire Taine, Guerbet Group Commercial VP, commented: "We are looking forward to open new horizons in Interventional Oncology via this agreement with Kyuan, one of the country's top drug distributors & one of the most reputed pharmaceutical partners throughout China, as we are determined to facilitate access for Chinese practitioners to the cTACE procedure which is standard-of-care across the world in interventional radiology."
A registration application has been filed in China in April 2015 for the use of Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid in conventional trans-arterial chemoembolization (cTACE) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common liver cancer. TACE is recommended for Child-Pugh A/B HCC patients by the Chinese Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of primary liver cancer[1].
Liver cancer is the second most lethal cancer in the world & accounts for 746,000 deaths every year according to the WHO[2]. HCC accounts for 90% of primary liver cancer cases and is particularly frequent in China due to the prevalence of viral hepatitis.
Lipiodol® is already registered in China in its two conventional indications, lymphography and the treatment of iodine deficiency.
About cTACE
Conventional transarterial chemo-embolization (cTACE) is a minimally invasive procedure which consists of mixing Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid with an anticancer drug and injecting this treatment trans-arterially in the liver as a loco-regional targeted chemotherapy, in which Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid acts as a contrast agent, a drug eluting vehicle and a dual arterio-portal transient embolic[3].
About Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid
Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid (ethyl esters of iodized fatty acids of poppy-seed oil) was initially developed for diagnostic radiology in indications including liver lesion diagnosis, lymphography and hysterosalpingography, and then used in interventional radiology for conventional transarterial chemo-embolization (cTACE) procedures of multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma, where Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid was used as a procedure visualizer (contrast agent), a drug eluting vehicle (drug carrier), and a dual arterio-portal transient embolic. The approved indications for Lipiodol® Ultra-Fluid may vary according to countries. Please refer to local SmPC for further information.
About Guerbet
Guerbet is a pioneer in the contrast agent field, with almost 90 years' experience, and is the only pharmaceutical group dedicated to medical imaging worldwide. It offers a comprehensive range of X-Ray (XR), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Interventional Radiology and Theranostics (IRT) products, along with a range of injectors and related medical devices to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients. To discover new products and ensure future growth, Guerbet devotes significant resources to R&D, spending around 9% of its sales each year. Guerbet (GBT) is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (Segment B - Mid Caps) and generated revenue of €409 million in 2014. It had a total workforce of 1,461 employees at 31 December 2014.
In China, Guerbet, MRI and X-ray contrast media, Dotarem® and Xenetix®, are distributed by Hongli.
For further information about Guerbet, please go to http://www.guerbet.com
About Kyuan
As one of the large-scale comprehensive pharmaceutical enterprises which is among the first batch getting GSP certification, Beijing Kyuan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd keeps adhering to the idea of market and customer-oriented, based on scientific & normative, perfect & effective operating system, devoting itself to the integration of pharmaceutical supply chain and service innovation.
Founded in 1995, Beijing Kyuan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanghai Pharma Group. Shanghai Pharma Group is the first large-scale comprehensive pharmaceutical enterprise listed both in Hong Kong and Domestic market and ranked 2nd in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry.
Kyuan always takes product quality and service quality as its lifeline; it insists on providing customers with products of the best qualities, advanced technologies and reliable brands; it has successively established a long-term partner relationship with more than 1000 well-known domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies. At present in Beijing, it has nearly 600 medical institutions and about 700 sub-distributors across the country; its operation range includes over 6,500 kinds of products.
Forward-looking statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Guerbet Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performances of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Guerbet's public reports which are available on the Guerbet website at http://www.guerbet.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking-statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
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1. HCC treatment Chinese Guidelines 2011 - Chin Clin Oncol 2012;1:10
2. WHO-Globocan 2012-IARC-Section of Cancer Surveillance 9/7/2014
3 Kan et al., Seminars in Interventional Radiology 2008; 25 (2): 7785.
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