sun pharma to acquire dusa pharmaceuticals, page-3

Tony

It's an interesting situation with Solaraze. As you mention, Solaraze's main indication is for AK, as is Levulan. However Solaraze is a 3% diclofenac sodium gel, whereas Levulan is an aminolevulinic acid therapy that is used in conjunction with blue light therapy.

My guess is that Levulan is in fact primarily used for treatment of AKs, as approved by the FDA. Solaraze appears to be a different story.

Global sales of Solaraze in 2010 were US$70m. Although it's sold on prescription, it is unclear what proportion of these sales is for the treatment of AKs and how much is represented by off-label use of Solaraze as a treatment for arthritis.

Voltaren gel, the current leading topical treatment for arthritis, is sold only on prescription in the US. It contains the equivalent of 1% diclofenac sodium. Pennsaid solution, a 1.5% diclofenac sodium solution, has been rapidly gaining ground on Voltaren, probably because of its higher strength. A stronger 2% solution developed by Pennsaid is currently undergoing FDA review for approval.

My point is that much of the value of the supposed AK treatment market may actually belong within the arthritis treatment market. As Solaraze comes off patent, those keen to get a generic form to market (and there is certainly interest) will, I suspect, be targeting that market, more than AKs.

http://www.evaluatepharma.com/Universal/View.aspx?type=Entity&entityType=Product&lType=modData&id=14197&componentID=1002

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/propthink-nuvo-research-gaining-visibility-132502058.html