BTG Share News (BTG)

Healthcare group BTG has announced its plans to start selling two of its oncology treatments directly to 11 European countries from 1 April next year.The move comes after the FTSE 250 group earlier this year began building a direct sales force to promote the approved uses of its products in major European markets.The products, bead block and dc bead, are currently sold in Europe by Terumo Corp. under a contract that expires on 31 March.DC bead has been designed to release chemotherapy drugs to treat HCC, a type of liver cancer, and certain cancers that have travelled to the liver, while the bead block treatment works by releasing a substance that limits the flow of blood to cancer cells.BTG's European sales team already directly sells its Therasphere treatment."Directly supplying both beads and Therasphere to specialist interventional oncology physicians in Europe will allow us to offer them a unique portfolio of products to treat their patients," said BTG chief executive officer Louise Makin."Our interactions with these physicians will also provide us valuable insights into treatment practice and unmet medical needs that will help guide future development efforts."The group added that it was also continuing to build its commercial and regulatory position in other regions, including Asia.Shares in BTG had declined 2.42% to 685.50p by 08:36.