Hikma Pharmaceuticals announces launch of argatroban injection

Hikma Pharmaceuticals announced Thursday the US launch of an injection for the treatment of thrombosis in adults.

The FSTE 250 multinational group is releasing the argatroban injection after receiving approval from the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this year.

The London-based pharmaceutical firm's argatroban is used for the prevention of disease and treatment of thrombosis in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT).

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Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot inside the blood vessel obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. HIT is due to the administration of various forms of heparin, an anticoagulant, and is caused by the formation of abnormal antibodies that activate platelets.

Argatroban will also work as an anticoagulant in preventing the clotting of the blood in adults at risk of HIT undergoing coronary angioplasty, a non-surgical procedure used to treat the stenotic coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary heart disease.

"Hikma is pleased to be bringing argatroban injection to market," Chief Executive Officer of Hikma, Samih Darwazah, said in a statement.

"Argatroban will expand our injectables product line and help to differentiate our product portfolio in the US."

Argatroban injection made approximately $105m in sales for the 12 months ending October 2012, according to IMS Health.

Hikma will be selling the argatroban injection in 100mg/ml vials and was developed through the company's partnership with the speciality pharmaceutical company, Exela Pharma Sciences.

Shares for Hikma, which has a market capitalisation of £1,488.17m, reported a 0.26% drop in shares to 755.00p at 10:15 Thursday.

RD