Labopharm reports C$33.3 M losses in 2005

Canadian drugmaker Labopharm has announced net losses for the full-year 2005 of C$33.3 million ($28.9 million), up from the C$27.7 million loss the business saw in 2004. Labopharm's revenue from product sales was C$3.2 million, compared with C$1.4 million the previous year which, the firm says, is due in part to higher licensing revenue.

The company says it received C$1.9 million in payments from its partners Purdue Pharma Products LP, Hexal AG, Gruppo Angelini and Esteve SA, under licensing and distribution deals relating to its once-daily extended release formulation of the prescription painkiller tramadol hydrochloride. The drug has also been submitted for US Food and Drug Administration consideration, under an Investigational New Drug application. Fellow Canadian group Biovail already has-FDA-approved exclusivity for its version of the drug, but has agreed that Labopharm will seek further US approvals.