Akorn to manufacture, supply ophthalmic drug

Buffalo Grove, IL-Akorn has signed a 5-year contract with a major U.S. pharmaceutical company to manufacture and supply an ophthalmic drug product in Akorn's Somerset, NJ, facility, the company has announced.

Akorn holds the abbreviated new drug application for the product and also expects to launch it under the Akorn label in mid-2008. The current market size for the drug is about $25 million, according to Akorn, citing recent IMS sales data.

"We are very pleased to have been selected as the contract manufacturer for this important ophthalmic product," said Arthur S. Przybyl, Akorn's president and chief executive officer. "We continue to seek contract pharmaceutical manufacturing opportunities in ophthalmics, liquid injectables, and lyophilized products in order to expand these businesses."