OCON Healthcare signs agreement with Chinese pharma company to market its products in Asia

OCON Healthcare has signed a binding agreement with BioGenuine, a Chinese women’s health pharma company, to market its products in China and Southeast Asia.

It is stipulated that the companies will work for the joint development and commercialisation of new products in the field of women’s health based on OCON’s spherical platform combined with innovative drugs.

The companies have agreed that OCON will receive royalties – percentage of sales – amounting to 7 per cent of net product sales in China, Macau, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.

After a period of 12 years or the expiration of the patents in one of the territories, the royalty rate will drop to 3.5 per cent.

OCON’s first platform product, the Ballerine® (IUB™ Ballerine®) is the first and only spherical intrauterine device of its kind in the world to prevent pregnancy, that has already proven safety and efficacy in Europe, Israel and South Africa. It is hoped that the IUB will soon enter the South American and Canadian markets.

The company’s second product is SEAD IUB device, designed for non-invasive treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), from which one in four women of childbearing age suffers.

The treatment is performed in the doctor’s clinic within about half an hour without the need for surgery or anaesthesia and is designed to lead to a significant and immediate reduction in bleeding.

This marks a shift with regard to the traditional HMB treatments currently available in hospitals, which include invasive ablation procedures and even hysterectomy. OCON Healthcare estimates that the global HMB surgery market is expected to reach US$1.3 billion by 2024.

The team have also begun developing a new product called IUB PRIMA which will enable sustained release of a variety of drugs in the uterus over a fixed and defined period of time.

Speaking about OCON’s ambitions, Daniela Schardinger, Ocon’s VP marketing and medical affairs, says: “Every woman needs to have more than one choice. Our aim is to shape the future of women’s health, and bring more options that are less invasive, better fitted for women’s anatomy and adapted to their different life stages.”