Sirtex Medical Inc., a subsidiary of Sirtex Medical Limited, a leading manufacturer of targeted liver cancer therapies, announced today the expansion of its business in Latin America. Sirtex’s SIR-Spheres ® microspheres are now available to treat inoperable liver tumors in Brazil. The first SIR-Spheres microspheres treatments took place the first week of September at Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo. Sirtex received product approval from the Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA) for SIR-Spheres microspheres early in 2014.
The announcement comes at a time when the America’s region is experiencing record growth, having recently announced that dose sales of SIR-Spheres microspheres grew a solid 22.5 percent, with more than 5,836 doses being supplied for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014.
Brazil represents the largest economy and medical device market in Latin America. Many thousands of Brazilians will develop liver tumors. For example, at least 60 percent of the 14,200 Brazilians diagnosed with colorectal cancer every year will see their cancer spread to the liver, with many dying of the disease due to lack of treatment options.
“Over the last several years we have been meeting with healthcare professionals and regulatory authorities from Brazil to identify the market demands and understand the patient needs,” commented Mike Mangano, president of Sirtex Medical. “The availability of SIR-Spheres microspheres, at such a world-renowned institution as Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo, provides greater hope to patients with liver tumors.”
“I am delighted to announce that we have performed the first SIR-Spheres microspheres treatments in Brazil. I am honored to represent the entire multidisciplinary team at Sirio-Libanes and the University of Sao Paulo, as well as our colleagues at Sirtex who have worked so hard to make this therapy possible,” said Dr. Francisco Carnevale, chief of the interventional radiology section, University of Sao Paulo. “In the past, we were able to offer patients limited targeted liver treatments for cancer. The addition of SIR-Spheres microspheres is important as we evolve our patient treatment options. The peer-reviewed literature shows SIR-Spheres microspheres extend patient survival while maintaining a good quality of life.”
Dr. Frederico Costa, medical oncologist, Sirio-Libanes, added, “SIR-Spheres microspheres are another powerful weapon against liver tumors when integrated as part of a multidisciplinary treatment plan. Having this treatment available at Sirio-Libanes allows us to complement our systemic chemotherapy treatments and optimize patient outcomes.”
Commenting on the financial results, Mangano said, “The consistent and encouraging growth in the Americas region, with the first patients now being treated in Brazil, reflects the increased acceptance of SIR-Spheres microspheres as a key option for appropriate patients. We continue to invest in our Americas organization, and will also triple our manufacturing capacity at our Wilmington, Massachusetts facility by the end of this year. We expect continued momentum coupled with the highly anticipated results of the SIRFLOX study in the first quarter of 2015 which we believe will help fuel our growth.”
Globally, revenue was $129.4 million Australian dollars with worldwide sales of 8,561 doses, up 17.3 percent in fiscal year 2014, with Asia Pacific reporting growth of 12.4 percent and Europe, Middle East, and Africa increasing 5.6 percent.
