On Friday, Abraxis BioScience
Camptosar achieved $903 million in sales for Pfizer in 2006, but this represents less than 2% of the drugmaker's total revenue. This injectible drug, also called irinotecan hydrochloride, will become a part of Abraxis' hospital-based business segment, which has been experiencing torrid growth. For its most recently reported quarter, sales in this segment grew by 32.6% to $159.3 million. The company has unveiled plans to split off this particular segment as its own publicly traded company in an attempt to fetch a higher valuation for shareholders.
The outlook for Abraxis and its hospital-based segment are very promising. It has been a big year for the company in terms of pushing forward with new generic options -- much to the dismay of big pharma in the ensuing quarters. The hospital-based segment has 26 ANDAs pending with the FDA, as well as 60 product candidates in various stages of development. In August, this segment of Abraxis announced its plans to market the first and only injectible generic Cefotetan Disodium, which has received approval from the FDA. The drug is an antibiotic used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. It is the generic equivalent of AstraZeneca's
Many of the large-cap pharmaceutical companies are diversified to such a degree that they, like Abraxis, present interesting plays on the threat posed by generics.
For related Foolishness check out: