Finland’s Orion eyes US sales boost with blockbuster prostate cancer drug

By Anne Kauranen

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish drugmaker Orion wants to boost sales in the United States on the back of the success of its prostate cancer drug Nubeqa, which it is developing jointly with German partner Bayer (OTC:BAYRY), Orion’s chief executive Liisa Hurme told Reuters.

The two companies announced on Thursday that sales of Nubeqa have been worth more than a billion euros this year, making it Orion’s first “blockbuster” product, and that Bayer is seeking approval from U.S. authorities to expand its use to a new patient group.

Nubeqa, also known as darolutamide, is Bayer’s third best selling drug globally with sales growing most rapidly in the U.S., Hurme said.

That encouraged Orion to establish a research centre in the U.S. last year, with an eye on growth opportunities in a country that accounts for roughly half of the world’s drug market, Hurme said.

“We are in the U.S. in order to develop our own innovations in that market ourselves,” she said, referring to Orion’s ODM-111 molecule for pain treatment and Orion’s cooperation with U.S. based drugmaker Merck & Co in the development of opevesostat, used against metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, among other products.

“Pain is highly undertreated and especially in the U.S., the use of opiates is a major problem,” she added, referring to the expansion of drug misuse.

Bayer said it was submitting an application to the U.S. Food and Drug administration for a third indication for darolutamide to be used in combination with androgen deprivation therapy in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, following a successful phase III trial.