Any one-product company that receives good news about that product will likely attract investors. That was the case Wednesday with Amarin (AMRN -0.16%), which received very encouraging news about its single commercialized drug that day. As a result, its shares were trading more than 6% higher in late-session trading on the stock market, eclipsing the basically flatlining S&P 500 index.
A victory for Vazkepa
Amarin announced that morning, no doubt with great satisfaction, that its cardiovascular drug Vazkepa (branded as Vascepa in the U.S. market) has received an extension to its patent exclusivity in the European Union (E.U.), thanks to a new patent covering the drug. The 27-country bloc's European Patent Office (EPO) tacked on eight years to Vazkepa's term, so it will now expire in April 2039.
Patent exclusivity is crucial for pharmaceutical companies, as they have far more scope to set the price for their drugs when there is no competition.
Since Vazkepa/Vascepa is so crucial for Amarin's success, the company has been vigorously defending the intellectual property foundational to the drug. It said it recently notched a victory in a dispute over a separate patent for the drug that was adjudicated by the EPO.
In the press release trumpeting the extension, Amarin quoted CEO Patrick Holt as saying the decision "enhances the potential impact that this product can have for patients and the growth potential for Vazkepa across the continent."
Amarin hasn't always won
Amarin hasn't always been successful in the regulatory sphere with its solitary product. It fought like a tiger to fend off challenges to Vascepa's exclusivity on the U.S. market, and ultimately lost in a 2020 court decision. So the victory in Europe is particularly meaningful.
Having said that, though, the company is very much a one-trick pony with Vazkepa/Vascepa.
