Message #25 From:
NewsBot Date: January 3, 2007 07:03:00 AM
XKEM News Xechem CEO, In Wide-Ranging UPI Interview, Discusses for-Profit Model for Delivering Critically-Needed Drugs for African Market
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xechem International, Inc. (OTCBB: XKEM), Dr. Ramesh Pandey,
president and CEO of Xechem International, was interviewed at length by
United Press International (UPI) recently on his plans to manufacture
and market the first new treatment for Sickle Cell Disease in decades in
Nigeria. Sickle Cell Disease threatens the lives of 4 million Nigerians,
as well as 80,000 Americans and many millions more worldwide.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- United Press International interviewed Dr.
Ramesh Pandey, an Indian-born medicinal chemist who founded his own
company after years of working for large pharmaceutical companies, with
this mission statement: make
needed drugs that no one else would make.
More than 20 years later, Xechem, his New Jersey-based company, holds
lucrative patents on drugs like paclitaxel, a cancer
treatment derived from the Yew tree.
After a chance meeting with Nigerian officials, Xechem has opened one of
the most state-of-the-art pharmaceutical
plants in Africa. The factory churns out Nicosan, the first non-toxic
treatment for sickle-cell anemia,
a disease that afflicts about 16 million individuals primarily of
African descent worldwide.
For his work, he has been awarded the Reader's Choice CBS/MarketWatch
CEO of the Year award, and immortalized in a song written by Martin
Luther King Jr.'s niece. But despite all this, he says, there is still
more work to be done.
Q: How did you end up working on drugs for orphan diseases?
A: I was working at Abbott Laboratories, working on antibiotics and
cancer treatments that cost $3 million, $4 million or $5 million per
kilogram. Then I was approached by a company called Lyphomed to help
them develop a generic version of the drug vancomycin (an antibiotic
used to treat severe infections). The only company making the drug was
Eli Lilly, and their patent had been expired for five years. Nobody in
China, India, anywhere, was making the drug.
I wasn't sure at first if I could make the drug, but after three and a
half years we developed a version. We founded Xechem and the charter was
to make drugs not available anywhere else on the market. We put our
generic into production in Copenhagen and Japan. We made our money back
in less than two weeks. My entire life changed.
Q: You bought out Xechem from its parent company in 1990, but as the
company prepared for its first public offering, an untimely patent
extension granted to another firm sent the stock into freefall. Can you
describe your meeting with a Nigerian delegation in search of a
sickle-cell anemia drug that turned things around for you?
A: Until that time, I had no idea what sickle-cell disease was. I
overheard someone from the delegation saying 'We have a drug for
sickle-cell disease but nobody wants to put up money.' I said, 'I want
it.' At the time, there was no non-toxic drug for the disease.
The Nigerians said 'Westerners come here, take things and never come
back. Can you set up a factory here?' I went to Nigeria and saw there
was a lot of opportunity there. I agreed to build a factory.
We are currently marketing the drug in Nigeria and we plan to bring the
drug to the United States -- where 80,000 people have sickle-cell anemia
-- to increase its credibility.
Q: Most of the attention goes to efforts to donate drugs to people in
low-income countries. But you have built a successful model based on
selling to the Nigerian market. How does it work?
A: Nigeria has a population of 130 million people. Like in every
country, there are rich and poor people. It is very cheap to manufacture
things there, and many people can afford to buy the treatment.
Right now, the problem is that demand for the drug is greater than what
we can produce. Other countries have sent delegations to tour our
factory.
Especially when the government is in the picture, I think it makes a lot
of sense to develop things in those countries. We are making history. I
think there's a tremendous opportunity to help people.
Q: What is it like to operate in Nigeria?
A: People have a very bad image of Nigeria and other African countries;
we've helped to change that. If you come there, you can see that what we
have built is as good as anywhere else. People will change their
impression and say yes, things can be done in these countries.
One problem we have encountered is that often, once people are trained,
they leave. We have decided to start classes at Nigerian universities to
ensure a supply of trained workers.
(These countries) are looking for people like us who can help build.
Criticism won't help anybody get anywhere.
Q: Where do you plan to market the drug next?
A: We expect sales of between $240 million and $288 million per year in
Nigeria in the next three to five years. Then we plan to market the drug
in all African countries because there are no other drugs on the market.
We also have orphan drug status in the United States and the European
Union.
About Xechem
Xechem International is a development stage biopharmaceutical company
working on Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), antidiabetic, antimalarial,
antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer and antiviral (including AIDS)
products from natural sources, including microbial and marine organisms.
Its focus is on the development of phyto-pharmaceuticals (Natural Herbal
Drugs) and other proprietary technologies, including those used in the
treatment of orphan diseases. Xechem’s mission
is to bring relief to the millions of people who suffer from these
diseases. Its recent focus and resources have been directed primarily
toward the development and launch of NICOSAN™
(to be marketed as HEMOXIN™ in the US and
Europe). With the Nigerian regulatory approval now in hand, Xechem is
now working on the commercialization of the drug in Nigeria and the
pursuit of US FDA and European regulatory approval. In addition to
NICOSAN™, Xechem is also working on another
sickle cell compound, 5-HMF, which it has licensed from Virginia
Commonwealth University (VCU).
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
which are intended to be covered by safe harbors created hereby.Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties.
