Handok signed an exclusive domestic sales contract with Jazz Pharmaceuticals for Vyxeos, a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, on July 20, 2021.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, a global biopharmaceutical company based in Ireland, has a portfolio of pharmaceutical drugs in the neurology and oncology fields, as well as new drugs in early- and late-stage development, and provides medicine to approximately 75 countries worldwide. Handok signed a domestic sales contract with Jazz Pharmaceuticals in 2015 for Defitelio, a treatment for severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease, and this latest agreement marks a continuing solid partnership.

Vyxeos (daunorubicin + cytarabine) was designated an “orphan drug” in Korea in May 2021 to treat acute myeloid leukemia, and is a liposome powder with daunorubicin and cytarabine for intravenous administration after mixing with an injection solution. In a phase III clinical trial, Vyxeos was confirmed to lengthen patient survival period over the standard cytarabine plus daunorubicin (7+3) therapy. The median overall survival period of the group treated with Vyxeos was 9.6 months, while for the group treated with the standard therapy, the overall survival period was 5.9 months.