Chennai-based Orchid  Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, today said that it would develop and manufacture an anti-coagulant drug, initially discovered and developed through phase I clinical trials by Merck & Co.

Orchid will develop and make the drug through its US subsidiary Diakron Pharmaceuticals Inc, in which the Chennai-based firm has acquired a majority stake. Privately-owned Diakron specialises in the development of products for treating certain cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Diakron has an exclusive license agreement with Merck for the anti-coagulant compound which gives it all rights to develop, and, if approved, market and distribute it worldwide.

Orchid said the new compound is for a novel investigational oral drug, which it expects will have considerable potential. The market for oral anticoagulant products is predicted to grow significantly to $5 billion over five years.

Currently, the largest selling oral agent on the market is an old compound with significant drug and patient management issues. Other anticoagulant products are injections which are not optimal for long-term, chronic therapy.

Acordingly, Orchid and Diakron see considerable potential to further develop the Merck compound and position it uniquely first for the prophylaxis and treatment of deep vein thrombosis in patients undergoing hip and knee replacement and later for chronic use indications.

Deep vein thrombosis, which affects millions of patients globally and patients who undergo hip and knee replacement in particular, is a major condition which requires more patient-friendly medications and hence, Orchid's investment in Diakron

Orchid's founder and managing director K Raghavendra Rao said, "Orchid is well positioned to undertake the development and commercialisation process seamlessly given its state-of-the-art drug discovery and commercial manufacturing capabilities."

"We are extremely pleased to be able to license this compound from Merck for further development and commercialisation," said Srirama Rao, PhD, a founder and the chairman of Diakron. "We are also pleased that Orchid is partnering with us as a significant shareholder and developer of this compound, leveraging its world-class R&D infrastructure in India. This will allow Diakron to fast-track development of this unique anticoagulant product as its number one priority."

Over the years, Orchid has developed expertise to undertake end-to-end drug discovery and drug development backed by its US FDA and UK MHRA compliant manufacturing facilities for successful commercialisation.

On a consolidated basis, Orchid's total income for the first quarter ended 30 June 2008 grew by 31.6 per cent at Rs328.30 crore in comparison to Rs249.55 crore registered during the corresponding first quarter of last fiscal.

During the first quarter of this fiscal, Orchid launched its second product, Granisetron in the US market and is the first Indian generic company to receive US FDA approval for this product.

It also received approval to launch Piperacillin-Tazobactam in the European market  (See:Orchid receives EU approvals for anti-bacterial injections Piperacillin, Tazobactam), for which it had filed the marketing authorisation with the UK MHRA through the de-centralised procedure route enabling it to launch the product across EU countries.  In addition , it is the first generic company to launch it in the Canadian and Australian markets. This is the fourth product to be approved for the Canadian market.