The stream of good news for SkyePharma continued this week with the announcement that the firm is on the brink of receiving a substantial milestone payment from partner MundiPharma, triggered by the imminent launch of asthma product Flutiform in Germany.
In what will be the first launch of the drug worldwide, MundiPharma said it is expecting to make Flutiform (fluticasone and formoterol) available in Germany from sometime this month, thereby releasing a 4 million-euro (£3.2 million) milestone payment to SkyePharma.
The UK drugmaker also stands to receive a second milestone payment of the same magnitude when the drug hits UK shores, as part of the up to 15 million (£12.1m) due as launches occur in major markets in Europe.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency gave its seal of approval for Flutiform last month, but SkyePharma has declined to comment on when it expects the medicine to be launched in the country.
To date, Flutiform has been authorised for sale in eight European countries: Germany, UK, Austria, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Norway, the Slovak Republic and Sweden, where it will compete for market share with GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair (salmeterol and fluticasone) and AstraZeneca’s Symbicort (budesonide and formoterol).
The summer has certainly been kind to SkyePharma: as well as finally winning European Union approval for Flutiform, which it always said is pivotal to its long-term cash-generative potential – the company also announced a solid set of financials for the first half of the year, and subsequently a new agreement to renegotiate its £83 million debt restructuring, further boosting its financial stability.
