Dova Pharmaceuticals and Salix Enter Into Exclusive Co-Promotion Agreement For DOPTELET (Avatrombopag)

Dova Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:DOVA), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing drug candidates for diseases where there is a high unmet need, and Salix Pharmaceuticals one of the largest specialty pharmaceutical companies in the world committed to the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and its parent company, Bausch Health Companies (NYSE/TSX:BHC), today announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement to co-promote Dova’s DOPTELET (avatrombopag) in the United States.

As quoted in the press release:

Thrombocytopenia, a condition in which patients have a low platelet count, is the most common hematological abnormality in patients with CLD that often worsens with the severity of liver disease. It is estimated that approximately 15 percent of the 7.5 million patients with CLD have some form of thrombocytopenia. In a study published in 2010, patients with severe thrombocytopenia (<75,000/µL) had a 31 percent incidence of procedure-related bleeding. As a result of the associated increased rate of bleeding, there is an increased risk for the CLD patient when undergoing common scheduled medical procedures such as liver biopsy, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and routine dental procedures.

As part of the co-promotion arrangement, Salix intends to deploy approximately 100 sales specialists who will promote DOPTELET to gastroenterology healthcare professionals. The Salix sales force will begin selling DOPTELET in mid-October 2018. Dova will continue its commercial efforts targeting primarily hepatologists and interventional radiologists and certain other specialties. Pursuant to the agreement, Dova will pay Salix a quarterly fee based on net sales (as defined in the agreement) of DOPTELET prescribed by gastroenterologists in the U.S.

Click here to read the full press release.