Phosphagenics extends agreement with Nippon Zoki Pharmaceutical
To develop new TPM diclofenac product for US market
Australian drug delivery technology company Phosphagenics has extended its collaboration with Japanese partner, Nippon Zoki Pharmaceutical, to develop a new anti-inflammatory product to treat acute and chronic pain for the US market.
The firms aim to develop a more effective topical product by incorporating Phosphagenics’ proprietary TPM (Targeted Penetration Matrix) delivery technology.
Phosphagenics and Nippon Zoki are currently negotiating a licensing arrangement that will include milestone and royalty payments to Phosphagenics on completion of an advanced topical product development.
This agreement follows a pre-licensing deal announced in March 2012, which enabled Nippon Zoki to test and assess Phosphagenics’ patented TPM/Diclofenac topical formulation for its suitability as a prescription drug in the US and Japanese markets.
Nippon Zoki currently manufactures and markets topical Diclofenac products without TPM for the Japanese market. It will now prepare a formulation containing Phosphagenics’ superior delivery technology.
Topical Diclofenac is only available in the US by prescription. There are three topical Diclofenac products on the market: two are gel- or liquid-based products and the third, Flector, is delivered via patch technology.
The US market for these topical products exceeds US$300m a year.
Phosphagenics’ CEO Esra Ogru said the company was hopeful that development and licensing arrangements would be finalised before the end of this year.