New Distribution and Commercialization Agreement for Medical Imaging Contrast Agent in China

China’s second largest pharmaceutical distribution group and an international medical imaging pharmaceutical group have announced an agreement for the distribution and commercialization of Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid, from September 2015.

Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid is used in interventional radiology procedures as a contrast agent, and as a drug carrier for the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), the most common liver cancer in China. The prevalence of HCC is related to the high rate of viral hepatitis. HCC is treated using conventional Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization (cTACE). Nearly three-quarters of a million people die each year from liver cancer according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

A registration application was filed in China, for the use of Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid in cTACE of HCC, in April 2015.

The agreement to distribute and commercialize Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid, beginning in September 2015, was signed between Guerbet (Villepinte, France) and Kyuan Pharmaceutical (Beijing, China), which is part of the Shanghai Pharma Group (SPH; Shanghai, China). Guerbet will benefit from Kyuan’s ability to distribute Lipiodol Ultra-Fluid in the hospital market.

Guerbet offers a large range of contrast agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), X-Ray, and Interventional Radiology and Theranostics (IRT). Guerbet also supplies a range of injectors and other medical devices used for diagnosis and treatment.

Marie-Claire Taine, Commercial vice president of Guerbet Group, said, “We are looking forward to open new horizons in Interventional Oncology via this agreement with Kyuan, one of the country’s top drug distributors & one of the most reputed pharmaceutical partners throughout China, as we are determined to facilitate access for Chinese practitioners to the cTACE procedure which is standard-of-care across the world in interventional radiology”.

Related Links:
Guerbet
Kyuan Pharmaceutical
Shanghai Pharma Group