APR and Labtec enter into exclusive License Agreement with Ferrer International

APR and its development partner Labtec have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the leading European pharmaceutical company Ferrer Internacional (Ferrer) for the promotion, distribution and marketing of Donepezil Oral Dispersible Film (ODF) in Spain, Portugal and Germany. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “It is an honor to work with a dedicated and professional company like APR. Donepezil Rapidfilm with its unique delivery system will be part of Ferrer’s CNS portfolio and is in line with our overall aim to bring new treatment alternatives for our patients,” said José Luis Fumanal, Vice President Domestic Operations Pharma of Ferrer. “As Ferrer has a successful track record in licensing collaborations, we are convinced that the current agreement with APR will be the initiation of another long-lasting partnership strengthening our supportive care line for our patients.”

“Market trends are clear,” said Paolo Galfetti, CEO of APR. “The future of many molecules to become off-patent such as Donepezil will be determined by dosage form diversification and patient compliance. ODF certainly is the oral dosage form contributing the most to compliance by ensuring drug delivery while being easy to use without any discomfort for patients and doctors. We are also very pleased that such a reputable company as Ferrer Internacional took the Donepezil ODF opportunity for such key markets in Europe. I would also like to express my appreciation for the great co-operation we had from Bioselenia, our strategic licensing partner, that helped to build the connection between APR and Ferrer Internacional on this deal.”

Donepezil ODF is an innovative oral thin film formulation for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and other types of dementia. Donepezil is one of the top selling molecules in its class of drugs. Donepezil ODF consists of a thin film strip based on a water-soluble polymer. The film disintegrates in contact with water or saliva within seconds, releasing the drug in the mouth and promoting gastrointestinal absorption. The patient does not have any swallowing difficulty, and dosage delivery is ensured since the film is immediately melting once it is put on the tongue.

Following Ondansetron ODF, Donepezil ODF is the second licensed candidate of a broad development pipeline of ODF prescription products based upon APR/Labtec’s proprietary Rapidfilm technology. The CTD dossier of the product is expected to be completed by end of 2010 to start the registration process in Europe. The product will be manufactured by Labtec.
Targeting primarily pain and CNS indications, other licensing candidates include Zolmitriptan and the blockbuster molecule Olanzapine.

About Ferrer Internacional

Ferrer is a privately held European R&D-based pharmaco-chemical and medical device company headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. Ferrer operates in over 60 countries with the overall aim of improving people’s health and quality of life. Based on its policy of continuous expansion throughout the world, Ferrer has established strong industrial and commercial operations in Europe and has extensive commercial experience in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Far East. For more information on Ferrer visit www.ferrergrupo.com.

About APR Applied Pharma Research

APR is an independent, international and integrated Healthcare Company headquartered in Switzerland with a subsidiary in Charlotte (NC, USA) and focused on three major areas: Delivering, Funding and Supporting Innovation in Healthcare. In particular, APR develops and licenses innovative, value added and patented healthcare products and proprietary drug delivery systems primarily in the oral and topical fields; APR also invests in companies or early stage innovative projects and provides a balanced mix of equity funding and/or financing together with APR’s development, scientific, technical, marketing, licensing and management skills and know how. Finally, APR supports biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the development of new pharmaceutical projects by providing on a contract basis added value, consultancy and R&D services under contract using a General Contractor’s approach. APR has entered into licensing agreements with pharmaceutical companies in over 100 countries worldwide with international sales on a worldwide basis.
For more information on APR visit our website at: www.apr.ch

About Bioselenia

Bioselenia is a European consulting company focused on transaction services (Licensing IN & OUT activities – Assets acquisition and divesting – Company Mergers and Acquisitions – Company start up) and on business development operations. Already present in Italy and Spain, Bioselenia is an organization of experienced and successful people who are committed to sharing their own experiences and knowledge of the markets to assist clients through the entire projects process. For more information please visit: www.bioselenia.com

About Labtec GmbH

Founded in 1990, Labtec has quickly become one of the leading drug delivery development companies in the transdermal and topical patch arena, later also leading the market with fast dissolving oral films in Europe. In 2008, Labtec became a wholly owned subsidiary of tesa SE and today represents tesa’s pharmaceutical business. In 2009, Labtec started operations at a new 3,000 m² GMP manufacturing site for patches and oral films. tesa and Labtec are members of the Beiersdorf group of companies. For more information about Labtec, please visit: www.labtec-pharma.com