11/05/2010

Angelini established a Joint Venture with Labopharm to commercialize Oleptro™ in the United States

In April 2010 Angelini has entered into an agreement with Labopharm Inc., an American pharmaceutical company, to establish a joint venture in the United States for the commercialization of OLEPTRO™, a novel once-daily formulation of the antidepressant trazodone approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on February 2010.
OLEPTRO™ (trazodone hydrochloride) Extended Release Tablets is a novel once-daily formulation of the Angelini’s research originale molecule trazodone, an antidepressant agent for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adults. It uses CONTRAMID ®, Labopharm’s clinically validated technology to control the release of active substances within oral medications.
“We are pleased to re-enter the U.S. market with Labopharm's OLEPTRO™, a novel formulation of a successful drug that our Company originally developed in our research labs,” said Gianluigi Frozzi, Chief Executive Officer of the Pharmaceutical Division, Gruppo Angelini. “Angelini markets trazodone around the world thanks also to out-licensing and export agreements with about 50 partners and we look forward to working together with an experienced partner like Labopharm as we launch OLEPTRO™. We also look forward to potentially exploring additional opportunities to leverage the joint venture for OLEPTRO™ line-extensions, as well as the introduction of additional products to the U.S. market.”
The joint venture, Angelini Labopharm, will be 50 percent owned by each of Angelini and Labopharm and will be managed by Mary Anne Heino, President of Labopharm’s US Operations.
“The global drug development and marketing experience of Labopharm combined with the extensive commercial capabilities of an international enterprise such Angelini will position us for a strong U.S. launch of OLEPTRO TM in the third quarter of 2010”, stated Heino.
Labopharm Inc. is an emerging leader in optimizing the performances of existing small molecule drugs using its proprietary controlled-release technologies. The company’s lead product is a unique once-daily formulation of the analgesic drug tramadol, now available in 19 countries around the world. OLEPTRO TM, its second product, has received regulatory approval in the U.S. and is under regulatory review in Canada. The co-development relationship between Angelini and Labopharm was estabilished more than four years ago.
As part of the joint venture agreement, Labopharm will grant Angelini Labopharm the exclusive right to market and sell OLEPTRO™ in the United States.