Tianyin Receives SFDA Approval for Statin Drug

Tianyin Pharmaceutical, Co. (TYNP.OB) was given SFDA approval for a generic version of a statin drug, simvastatin tablets. Simvastatin was developed by Merck (MRK), which markets the drug as Zocor. The US patent for the drug expired in 2006.

Simvastatin is used to control hypercholesterolemia and treat coronary heart diseases, the only statin approved by the SFDA for these conditions. Tianyin says it has fewer side effects than other drugs in the class. It reduced the mortality rate of coronary heart diseases, coronary artery diseases, and cerebral stroke by 17%, 24% and 25%, respectively.

In 2006, simvastatin drugs produced $190 million in collective revenue in China, 40% of which came from domestic manufacturers. Tianyin expects to use its price advantage to reduce further the amount of simvastatin that is sold in China by foreign drug companies. Tianyin has the ability to produce $2 million of the drug annually. Profit margins for the drug are slightly better than the company’s current product mix.

Tianyin said that it would exceed its fiscal 2008 year-end (ended June 30, 2008) guidance of $5.6 million in net income.

Tianyin currently markets 34 modernized TCMs and has an additional 51 pharmaceutical products pending approval. The company listed its shares on the OTC Bulletin Board through a reverse merger that was completed in January of 2008. At the time of the reverse merger, it announced a $15.2 million financing that it will use to expand its production capacity.

Disclosure: none.

Comments

[Lily:]

The Simvastatin price is going down! I pay less than $9 for 30 tablets of Simvastatin 80 mg using the prescription discount card that I found at rxdrugcard.com. That's less than my insurance co-pay was! The RxDrugCard costs me $4.50 a month. They show drug prices on their website to check your meds before you enroll. Check it out!

2008 Dec 30 04:25 PM