GlaxoSmithKline has started a clinical trial comparing its intravenous flu treatment to Roche’s billion-dollar product Tamiflu, a study that could position GSK as a stronger competitor in the flu therapies space.
GSK (NYSE:GSK) said Wednesday that the first patient has received treatment in the phase III study of patients hospitalized with influenza. London-based GSK, which has its U.S. headquarters in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, has sold zanamivir under the brand name Relenza since 1999, though that product is an inhaled form of the drug. An IV form of zanamivir is not approved for sale in any country. Zanamivir is licensed from Australian drug development company Biota (ASX:BTA), who has not always been happy with GSK’s promotion of the drug.
The outcome of the trial could be key to boosting GSK’s sales of zanamivir. Though sales of all flu therapies rise and fall depending on the severity of the flu season, Tamiflu has consistently outsold Relenza. In the first nine months of 2010, Roche reported about $846 million in Tamiflu sales. GSK reported $28 million in Relenza sales in the same period.
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GSK plans to enroll 462 patients in more than 20 countries in the study, which is expected to take about three years.
