Jordan-based pharmaceuticals company Hikma has resolved a dispute with Mutual Pharmaceutical relating to the sale of oral colchicines, a controversial treatment for gout.
Hikma’s subsidiary and US agent, West-Ward Pharmaceuticals, has discontinued its sales of oral colchicine until its new drug application is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The decision leaves Mutual Pharmaceutical’s Colcrys product as the only FDA-approved oral colchicine product on sales in the US.
The US FDA announced its intention to remove all unapproved oral colchicines from the market due to concerns about side affects in September 2010.
Hikma is standing by its forecast for a 20% revenue growth minimum for its US generics business for the full year 2010, despite the suspension of sales of oral colchicine.
