Medical technology company Biocompatibles International (LON:BII) saw its shares fall by 5.5% to 247p in early trading today after the company’s licencee and marketing partner Merz Pharmaceuticals temporarily suspended shipments of its Novabel injectable filler, which is used as a dermal treatment to shape the contours of the face. In a letter to its customers, Merz said that in the five months since launch into seven EU countries, a few patients had reported adverse reactions to Novabel and that it was now looking for an effective treatment for the problems.
Biocompatibles, which developed Novabel through its Cellmed arm, said the two companies were now developing treatment protocols with materials and techniques that are in routine medical practice. It added that the procedures would be similar to those currently available for conventional fillers and, subject to validation of these techniques, the two companies intend that shipments to physicians would resume in the near future.
Crispin Simon, the chief executive of Biocompatibles, said: “I am confident that our CellMed team will have a safe and effective technique for sensitive areas ready for evaluation in the next few weeks.”
The company confirmed that there was no change to its 2010 financial guidance, which was increased earlier this month from £28-32m to £31-34m, and would provide an update on progress of the technique project with the publication of its interim results on August 26.
Biocompatibles is currently in the process of ramping up its manufacturing capacity for Novabel with a €4m programme that is being part funded by Merz. The global market for aesthetic dermal filler products is believed to be at least $760m. The current market consists mainly of products manufactured from collagen and hyaluronic acid. CellMed manufactures the Cosmetic Dermal Filler Bead from highly purified alginate material, using a proprietary manufacturing process.
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