Helsinn Healthcare's Aloxi launched in UK

Helsinn Healthcare SA, a Swiss pharmaceutical group, has launched Aloxi (palonosetron HCl) in the UK ahead of schedule. The next-generation treatment for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting will be sold by its local partner Maelor, a specialist hospital medicines group.

The agent is a patented second-generation 5-HT3 blocker, which is differentiated by its strength on initiation and the duration of its activity, Helsinn noted. Aloxi obtained a centralized registration in Europe in 2005, with an indication for the prevention of acute nausea and vomiting associated with highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy, and the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with moderately emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.

Since its launch in the USA and European countries, Aloxi has penetrated the antiemetic market with great success. The UK 5-HT3 market amounted to L50.0 million ($97.5 million), according to IMS figures in the 12 months to September 2007. Helsinn noted that its drug has a long half-life of 40 hours and at least 30 times higher receptor binding affinity than currently-available compounds. In practice, this means that Aloxi only needs to be given once per chemotherapy treatment cycle in comparison with competitor products which need to be given several times.