Plethora sees profit on premature ejaculation deal
Last Updated: 2006-10-25 10:05:36 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Chris Wills
LONDON (Reuters) - British biotech firm Plethora Solutions is confident the loss-making firm can turn a profit this year by licensing an experimental treatment for premature ejaculation, its chief executive told Reuters.
Chief Executive Stephen Powell said in an interview that Plethora was likely to net $5 million to $10 million in upfront payments by agreeing a deal with at least one pharmaceutical firm to help bring its analgesic spray to market. The spray has completed intermediate Phase II clinical trials.
Powell said the deal should help the firm swing to a profit this year after it reported a post-tax loss of 2 million pounds ($3.8 million) in the six months to June 30.
But Plethora will need to strike further deals and bring other treatments to market to guarantee sustained profits.
"We will need to get two or three other products out of the clinic to generate enough revenue to make a sustained profit," Powell said.
Covent Garden-based Plethora's development pipeline also includes treatments for urinary incontinence, menstrual pain and painful bladder syndrome.
Powell said the market for premature ejaculation products is larger than that for erectile dysfunction, where products like Viagra have become household names, and said he believes it affects up to 40 million men in North America and Europe in a market worth up to $5 billion.
He expects canisters of the patented spray, containing 8 to 10 doses of the desensitizing chemicals, could be sold for $30 to $40 each.
Initially it would be available only by prescription but Powell said he could envisage it being sold over the counter.
"In 1997 there were questions about the market for Viagra but now it's a $4 billion market," said Powell.
A spin-off of the premature ejaculation spray, which contains lidocaine and prilocaine, is also being tested as a pain-relief for burns victims.
Powell says the company wants to boost sales of its already-available erectile dysfunction products, which it acquired when it purchased Timm Medical Technologies in January, to around $15 million by driving sales outside the U.S.
Analysts at brokers Collins Stewart estimate sales of that product range will bring in around $10 million in 2007.
Shares in Plethora were unchanged at 191 pence at 1141 GMT, valuing the company around 49.3 million pounds.
