Medical Futures to gain a slice of Canadian tramadol market through deal with Cipher

Medical Futures, a Canada-based pharma company, has signed a pact for Cipher Pharmaceuticals to distribute Durela in Canada. Patent-protected Durela is a once-a-day formulation of tramadol for the treatment of moderate- to moderately-severe chronic pain in adults. It was approved by Health Canada in August and has immediate- and extended-release properties.

As for the particulars of the distribution deal, Cipher will receive an upfront payment from Medical Futures of C$300,000, and could also be eligible for future payments, dependant on net sales milestones. Also, Cipher will get its hands on a double-digit royalty on new sales. Cipher has further responsibily for product supply and manufacturing, which will be taken care of by its supplier, Galephar Pharmaceutical Research.

Medical Futures’ CEO, Colin Campbell, says he is excited to offer Durela in Canada, believing that the product “strengthens and demonstrates [Cipher’s] commitment to providing top tier solutions to the Canadian market”. It appears Cipher is equally delighted with the deal, as it provides valuable royalty revenue to the company. Cipher also recently shook hands on a US$5.5 million US distribution deal for Durela with Vertical Pharmaceuticals, with the former set to receive a payment of US$1 million on the first commercial sale of the product.

With sales of over US$60 million in 2010, the seemingly robust Canadian tramadol market looks like a sure thing for both parties. Medical Futures plans to launch Durela in the first quarter of 2012.

Thanks to Sophie Bracken for this article, Sophie edits Espicom’s business publication Drug Delivery Insight.

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Last post on the Medical Technology blog before i shoot off on my hols, so no posts till i get back. Today’s article comes from Drug Delivery Insight, please read on…

Leading RNA interference (RNAi) company Silence Therapeutics has been busy lately. The UK-based firm tapped investors for nearly £6 million in funds last month, and has wasted no time in putting it to use. The company believes the funds, which were raised by both new and existing shareholders, will place it on a much improved financial footing.

The first slice of the funding was allocated to plan the closure of Silence’s US operations, which are located in Redwood City, CA. The US closure is expected to take place in the third quarter of this year, but the company’s German operations will remain open. As a result of the closure of the US base, Silence’s CEO, Phil Haworth, will step down once a replacement is found.

The second chunk of funding will be put towards Silence’s ongoing R&D efforts. The first portion will be used to complete the company’s ongoing Phase I trial of Atu027 for the treatment of advanced solid cancer, and is earmarked for completion during the second half of this year. Also, a Phase Ib trial of Atu027 in particular tumour types will be started in mid-2012. IND applications for Atu027 in solid will also be paid for by the funding in the second half of next year, and preclinical development will be stepped up for Silence’s Atu111 programme. The latter provides systematic delivery to the lung for treatment of pulmonary diseases.

Representing Silence’s most advanced drug candidate, Atu027 is a liposomal siRNA formulation targeting PKN3 for the treatment of advanced solid cancer that incorporats the company’s very own AtuPlex delivery technology. The company says it has proven its value by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels, thereby inhibiting blood supply to the tumour. Half-time results from the Phase I solid tumour trial of Atu027 are “encouraging”, as the drug has so far shown to be safe and well-tolerated. Silence hopes to finish the Phase I trial in the second half of this year, and release data before year-end.  The release of updated data from the trial was made at the recently-convened ASCO meeting in Chicago, IL.

Atu111, for the treatment of acute lung injury, is Silence’s most advanced candidate outside of the oncology field. It combines the company’s DACC drug-delivery system with AtuRNAi. The product’s target is being kept under wraps by Silence at the moment, but preclinical models using the DACC delivery system have shown sustained knockdown of up to three weeks in the lung endothelium.

As far as collaborative partners go, Silence is getting ready to start a Phase IIb trial for PF-‘655 in the second half of 2011, which is licensed to Quark Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer for the treatment of diabetic macular oedema.  Silence hopes Quark and Pfizer will report data from the trial later this year. Quark is also developing QPI-1002 for the treatment of delayed graft function and acute kidney injury in partnership with Novartis. In September 2010, quark kicked off a Phase II trial of QPI-1002 for the treatment of delayed graft function and plans to begin a second Phase II trial of the product in acute kidney injury during the course of this year.

Thanks to Sophie Bracken for this article, Sophie is editor of Drug Delivery Insight at Espicom Business Intelligence.

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has come to the rescue for Cephalon and agreed an US$81.50 per share cash offer that values the latter at approximately US$6.8 billion. The transaction, which is backed by Cephalon’s Board of Directors, trumps a rival offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International that had valued Cephalon at US$73 per share, or US$5.7 billion. Not surprisingly, Valeant has thrown up the white flag and withdrawn its offer. Teva’s acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2011.

According to Teva, the transaction bolsters the company’s long-term game-plan of building out its branded and specialty pharmaceuticals business through diversification and growth of the company’s product portfolio and pipeline. Teva is also convinced that here are several strategic and financial benefits to the takeover, including expanding the Israeli company’s geographical reach, and through acquiring Mepha, the largest generics company in Switzerland with a presence in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Mepha also provides Teva with a presence in high growth emerging markets. The deal looks set to diversify Teva’s portfolio of products into new therapeutic segments, particularly in the areas of CNS, and will add commercial presence in oncology and pain management. The combined company will boast over 20 branded products, with pro forma branded sales of about US$7 billion.

In addition, Cephalon’s pipeline of late-stage products looks set to boost Teva’s pipeline in key therapeutic areas including CNS, oncology and respiratory, and allows Teva to dip its toes into new areas such as pain management. The combined company will own over 30 compounds in late-stage development, including three products in filing stage. Following the takeover, Teva expects to realise annual cost synergies of at least US$500 million in the third year after the deal is completed, and also expects the purchase to immediately enhance Teva’s non-GAAP EPS.

Drug Delivery Insight Perspective: This monumental takeover seems to be borne out of Teva’s long-term focus to drive increased diversification across all of its business units, products and geographies. The combined Cephalon-Teva company’s huge product portfolio is also bound to support the latter in achieving its goal of growing its branded revenues from US$4.6 billion in 2010 to over US$9 billion in 2015.

Thanks to Espicom’s Sophie Bracken for this article.