Amarin acquires Parkinson's disease drug candidate

Neuroscience company Amarin Corporation has bought the global rights to a novel oral formulation of apomorphine for the treatment of "off" episodes in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. The novel oral formulation provides rapid absorption of apomorphine directly into the bloodstream after sublingual (under the tongue) administration, offering an improved alternative to the currently available injectable formulation.

Rick Stewart, ceo of Amarin, said: "Current treatment with apomorphine is by frequent injection, often several times per day, and can be painful. This oral alternative potentially offers significant advantages for these severely ill patients."

The transaction broadens Amarin's development pipeline and represents a further step in the UK company's acquisition and in-licensing growth strategy. It intends other transactions later this year to build on its franchise in central nervous system disorders, specifically in the movement disorders area.

The novel formulation has already completed a proof of concept study, which demonstrated oral bioavailability of apomorphine in human volunteers, while also being well tolerated. Amarin will conduct additional formulation development work and plans to commence final-stage clinical trials next year.

The rights to the new Amarin formulation were acquired from Dr Anthony Clarke, Amarin's vice-president of Clinical Development, who invented the formulation and filed the related patent prior to joining Amarin. He receives an upfront payment, success milestones on the advancement of the development programme to regulatory approval and royalties upon commercialisation. Specific terms were not disclosed.