Shares of OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB:OBMP) have shot ahead over 20% in early morning trading on Thursday following the company striking another licensing deal for its expansion efforts across Mexico, Latin and Central America. The Baton Rouge-based company last month completed its acquisition of Vitel Laboratorios, bringing two commerialized over-the-counter drugs into its portfolio, along with dozens more already licensed or the subject of negotiations for licensing for markets south of the U.S. border.
Subsequent to the acquisition, OncBioMune has signed a term sheet to acquire norepinefrine for the treatment of low blood pressure and heart failure in Mexico, penned an agreement with Gem Pharma related to development of GPX-150 for soft tissue sarcoma in Mexico and prepared documents seeking Mexican marketing authorization of anti-D immunoglobulin.
Thursday morning, the company said it has signed what is likely its biggest deal to date, licensing tretinoin from the Colombia-based contract manufacturing organization Procaps. OncBioMune says it is working immediately on formulation and stability studies with the goal of a commercialization application submission to regulators by the end of the year. If approved, the company believes it can be generating revenues in the first half of 2018 from tretinoin.
Calling it a "watershed" moment for the company, OncBioMune president Andrew Kucharchuk said he foresees the market opportunity into the millions of dollars annually, at high margins for his company.
The World Health Organization has tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid) on its List of Essential Medicines, those the agency deems as vital to a health system. The drug has suprisingly different uses, more precisely as a cream for the treatment of acne and a pill for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Presently, there are no approved drugs for APL in Mexico, creating what OncBioMune heralds as a "significant opportunity...to emerge as a market leader in the category."
Shares closed Wednesday at 22 cents and have run ahead to 27 cents for a gain of 22.7% shortly after the opening bell.
