Going off the due diligence and subsequent up front payment to Arena Pharma for a phase III drug to treat PAH, SUD004 is looking a little redundant. Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors have positive effects in PAH, but they do not provide a cure, and in many patients the disease will progress despite treatment1.
Uncertainty increasing in china. It is unclear when this procurement program will be rolled out nationwide and how many generic drugs will eventually be covered. It is important to recognize that under the program, the only determining factor for a successful bid will be the price. Thus, as global pharmaceutical companies look to do business in China, the implementation of this program will undoubtedly impact strategies on how to commercialize drug products in China and how to best compete in a bidding war with a domestic Chinese drug manufacturer2.
There are at least 3 generic brands of zolpidem in china, 17 in India and 35 in Japan3. So another one is probably not a big deal.
Malaria pre-referral is stopgap only with RAS doing the job.