Medicure Celebrates its 25th Anniversary this September
This September Medicure (TSXV:MPH) celebrates its 25th anniversary. Medicure is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative and affordable therapeutics for the U.S. market.
On September 15th, 1997, following the development of WinRho, one of Canada’s first successful biotech products, Dr. Albert Friesen launched Medicure as a Winnipeg-based biotech company focused on developing cardiovascular products. Despite the company not receiving approval for its first product, the company was able to pivot and recover. In 2006 Medicure acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection, a hospital-based products used in the Cardiac Cath lab. In 2013 a new dosing strategy was approved for AGGRASTAT which became the recommended dosing regimen. The Company grew AGGRASTAT market share from 2% to 65% for this drug class which remains to this day. Medicure acquired another pharma company called Apicore and sold the business in 2017 for in excess of $140 million and returned nearly $26 million to shareholders. In 2018, Medicure entered the primary care space with the purchase of ZYPITAMAG (pitavastatin) tablets, a third-generation statin. Later, in December 2020, Medicure purchased Marley Drug, a North Carolina based pharmacy with licenses in all 50 states. This strategic acquisition allowed Medicure to open access to ZYPITAMAG to all Americans, regardless of their insurance status. Since acquiring Marley Drug, Medicure has invested in the pharmacy infrastructure and in January 2022 Medicure launched an online E-commerce platform, allowing them to market 100s of affordable generic medications to the U.S. market. The company continues development and is now on the cusp of launching a Phase 3 study for treatment of a rare pediatric disease.
For 25 years, Medicure’s mission has been to serve patients by delivering safe and efficacious life-changing medicines. Capitalizing on our strengths in cardiovascular therapy and knowledge of the ever-changing U.S. market, they are positioned well to continue working towards this mission over the next 25 years.
