|
| |

LifeCycle Pharma enters Three Distinct Strategic
Collaboration Agreements with Global Pharmaceutical Companies
Hørsholm, Denmark, October 11, 2006 – LifeCycle
Pharma A/S today announced that it has entered into three strategic
collaboration agreements with leading players in the pharmaceutical industry.
These companies are Sandoz Inc. (an affiliate of Novartis AG), Merck Generics (a
subsidiary of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany) and H. Lundbeck A/S.
“We are delighted to be able to announce strategic collaboration agreements with
three such prominent global pharmaceutical companies”, said Dr. Flemming Ørnskov,
President and CEO of LifeCycle Pharma. “These new partnerships provide a strong
validation of our innovative MeltDose® technology which improves the
bioavailability of drugs with low water solubility. They also validate our
business model; a model based on identifying and developing products which
represent significant business opportunities for big pharmaceutical companies.
We are now also a significant step closer to the first commercial launch of a
product derived from LifeCycle Pharma’s strong research and development
pipeline”, said Dr. Flemming Ørnskov.
Details of the three strategic collaboration agreements include:
Sandoz
Sandoz and LifeCycle Pharma have entered into an exclusive development and
commercialization agreement regarding the US market with respect to an
undisclosed fenofibrate product developed by LifeCycle Pharma. The parties will
be jointly responsible for the future development and Sandoz will be solely
responsible for later commercialization of the product in the US. LifeCycle
Pharma will receive milestone payments and a significant double-digit royalty
rate of future sales. In 2005, the US market for fenofibrate products exceeded
USD 1 billion.
Merck Generics
Merck Generics and LifeCycle Pharma have entered into an exclusive development
and commercialization agreement regarding the European markets with respect to
an undisclosed fenofibrate product developed by LifeCycle Pharma. Merck Generics
is currently considering when to initiate the pivotal studies in Europe with the
fenofibrate product. Merck Generics will conduct the future development and
commercialization of the fenofibrate product, and will be responsible for all
costs associated with these activities. LifeCycle Pharma will receive milestone
payments in addition to a significant double-digit royalty rate of future sales.
In 2005, the European market for fenofibrate products amounted to approx. USD
235 million.
Lundbeck
Lundbeck and LifeCycle Pharma have entered into an agreement by which Lundbeck
is granted rights to LifeCycle Pharma’s MeltDose® technology in connection with
Lundbeck’s further development of two internal pre-clinical CNS-related
projects. LifeCycle Pharma will receive milestone payments related to achieved
results in the future developments of these projects. Due to the nature of an
existing agreement between Lundbeck and LifeCycle Pharma, LifeCycle Pharma will
not receive royalties on future possible revenues of these two CNS-related
projects.
---Ends--
For further information, please contact:
Flemming Ørnskov, President & CEO, tel. +45 70 33 33 00 or +45 24 20 03 68
Michael Wolff Jensen, Executive VP & CFO, tel. +45 70 33 33 00 or +45 40 74 62
44
About fenofibrate:
According to the American Heart Association, up to 34.5 million people in the
United States alone suffer from high cholesterol in the blood, and some of the
biggest sub-populations have too high triglycerides levels, including patients
with metabolic syndrome, mixed dyslipidemia and diabetes. Fenofibrate has proven
to be very effective at lowering triglyceride (“TG”) concentrations and
increasing high density lipoprotein (“HDL” or good cholesterol).
In 2005, sales of all fenofibrate drugs were approximately €1.2 billion
world-wide. To address this market segment, LifeCycle Pharma has developed a
franchise of 3 fenofibrate products – LCP-Feno, LCP-FenoChol and LCP-AtorFen.
LCP-FenoChol is being developed as a branded product candidate that will address
selective sub-populations within the fenofibrate market while LCP-AtorFen is
being developed as a powerful and safe treatment of high cholesterol, addressing
three primary cardiovascular risk factors: low density lipoprotein (“LDL”), HDL
and TG.
About LifeCycle Pharma A/S:
LifeCycle Pharma A/S was founded in June, 2002 as a spin-off from H. Lundbeck
A/S. Its investors include H. Lundbeck A/S, Novo A/S, Nordic Biotech K/S, Alta
Partners (USA), and Lacuna SICAV – Lacuna APO Biotech Subfund as well as
LifeCycle Pharma executives. The company is based in Hørsholm, Denmark, and
currently employs a staff of 42.
The company utilizes its proprietary MeltDose® technology to improve the
bioavailability of known and established compounds so that patients can absorb
them better and more effectively. LifeCycle Pharma’s pipeline contains six
products in clinical trials within the areas of immunosuppression and
cardiovascular diseases. LifeCycle Pharma expects to file an application to the
FDA during the second half of 2006 to market its first product within its
fenofibrate franchise – LCP-FenoChol in the US.
LifeCycle Pharma believes that its core competence is its ability to select
appropriate drugs, improve their formulation, conduct clinical tests and obtain
regulatory approvals within a short time frame, thus substantially reducing the
financial risk and time to market compared with other pharmaceutical or
biotechnology companies.
For more information about LifeCycle Pharma A/S, please visit
www.lcpharma.com
| |
|