Australian pharma Phebra has set up operations in the UK with the establishment of a new wholly-owned subsidiary company.

According to the firm’s chief executive Mal Eutick, Phebra UK will drive the distribution of Phebra’s exports of critical care injectables into the UK market “and meet key needs of UK clinicians and hospitals”.

Phebra UK’s new chairman, the Hon. Robert Jackson, said: “Together with our Australian colleagues we will be investigating which of Phebra’s existing portfolio of drugs may be able to add value or meet unmet clinical needs in the UK.”

“The UK market is not dissimilar to Australia and offers steady growth opportunities for Phebra’s range of high-quality injectables,” added Dr Eutick.

“We will be appointing experienced, local staff to help facilitate the on-the-ground promotion and distribution of our products into this key market.

The firm, which is based in London, has already submitted a group of new marketing applications to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK, covering pharmaceuticals used by hematologists, anesthetists and emergency care physicians.

“We are anticipating that approvals to market these will be available by mid-2019,” Dr Eutick confirmed.