Meridica licenses Xcelovair™ - its dry powder inhaler technology - to Pfizer

20 October 2003 Meridica, the Cambridge, UK-based drug delivery company formed two years ago as a spin-out company from PA Consulting Group, today announced that they have signed an agreement with Pfizer.

Pfizer has licensed Meridica’s new dry powder inhaler (DPI), Xcelovair™, to support the development and commercialization of its inhaled compounds for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Under the terms of the license, Pfizer will make an upfront payment, followed by further milestone and royalty payments, to Meridica.  Concurrently, Pfizer has also taken an equity stake in Meridica.

Xcelovair™ is an innovative inhaler device in development that will be able to accommodate a wide range of drug molecules and dry powder formulations suitable for pulmonary delivery in both adults and children.  The device is designed to deliver up to 60 individual pre-metered doses of a drug and provides advanced moisture protection for the drug product.  As such, it represents a step forward in dry powder inhaler technology.

Meridica’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ian J Smith, remarked: “We are delighted to announce this important licensing and equity deal with Pfizer.  We see this as a tremendous endorsement of both Meridica’s Xcelovair™ technology and its committed and innovative staff.  Completing the development of a dry powder inhaler in a little over two years and licensing it to the world’s number one pharmaceutical company is absolutely unprecedented in this industry.  Through this partnership, we hope that Xcelovair™ will ultimately be used by millions of patients with respiratory disease.  We look forward to working with Pfizer to commercialize Xcelovair™ in this immensely important and growing area of drug delivery.”

Notes to Editors

Contact:

David Edwards, Director of Strategic Marketing

david.edwards@meridica.com 

Meridica Ltd., Cambridge Technology Centre, Melbourn, Herts, SG8 6DQ, UK

Tel +44 1763 261 600

www.meridica.com

Notes to editors:

1.      Meridica’s vision is to become a leading source of creative drug delivery systems and drug products for the pharmaceutical industry, based on the excellence and quality of its products.  Meridica’s technologies will enable the full exploitation of the “biotechnological” advances made in the last decade, and build a position as a leading industry provider of cutting-edge solutions to drug delivery systems. Meridica is a PA Group company.

2.     PA Consulting Group is a leading management, systems and technology consulting firm, with a unique combination of these capabilities. Established almost 60 years ago, and operating worldwide from over 40 offices in more than 20 countries, PA draws on the knowledge and experience of some 3,300 people, whose skills span the initial generation of ideas and insights all the way through to detailed implementation.

      For more information, visit the web site at www.paconsulting.com