Melbourne, Australia – 23rd July 2009: Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) today announced that it had received written notification from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that indicative royalties for the three months ended 30 June 2009, were $8.9m on Relenza sales of $122.5 million.
Royalties for the complete 2009 financial year total $45.0 million on Relenza sales by GSK of $638.7 million compared to $20.5 million and $304.4 million, respectively in F2008.
Biota’s CEO Peter Cook reiterated there is a time lag between an order being placed and a recorded sale on the shipment of goods. The significant government stockpile orders placed after the swine flu outbreak in late April 2009, would appear as sales in future quarters.
About Biota
Biota is a leading anti¬infective drug development company based in Melbourne Australia, with key expertise in respiratory diseases, particularly influenza. Biota developed the first¬in¬class neuraminidase inhibitor, zanamivir, subsequently marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Relenza. Biota research breakthroughs have included a series of candidate drugs aimed at treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease, licensed to AstraZeneca and novel nucleoside analogues designed to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim. Biota has clinical trials underway with its lead compound for human rhinovirus (HRV) infection in patients with compromised respiration or immune systems. In addition, Biota has a key partnership with Daiichi Sankyo for the development of second generation influenza anti¬virals.
Relenza™ is a registered trademark of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies. *Further information available at www.biota.com.au
