Chiroscience and Pharmacia to collaborate; Strategic alliance on Levobupivacaine.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1995--Chiroscience Group plc, the chiral chi·ral adj. Of or relating to the structural characteristic of a molecule that makes it impossible to superimpose it on its mirror image. chi·ral pharmaceutical company, and Pharmacia AB, one of Europe's largest pharmaceutical companies, today jointly announced that they would collaborate on the development and commercialization of Chiroscience's long-acting local anesthetic local anesthetic n. An agent that, when applied directly to mucous membranes or when injected about the nerves, produces loss of sensation by inhibiting nerve excitation or conduction. , levobupivacaine. Under the collaboration Chiroscience will receive an access payment and milestone payments on the successful completion of various stages of the development timetable, as well as royalties following registration. Additional uses for the compound are to be developed under the agreement. U.S. marketing rights are subject to further negotiations and additional payments are expected. Chiroscience retains the manufacturing rights for levobupivacaine. Dr. John Dr. John (also Dr. John Creaux) is the stage name of Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (born November 21, 1940), a colorful pianist, singer, and songwriter, whose music spans, and often combines, blues, boogie woogie, and rock and roll. Padfield, chief executive of Chiroscience, commented, "We have been working to secure the best collaborative deal to bring levobupivacaine to the market. To have teamed up with a company of the stature of Pharmacia endorses our approach. Pharmacia meets all our partnership criteria. They have a strategic commitment to hospital care and are committed to developing levobupivacaine for established and emerging market applications." Peter Benson Peter Benson can be: Peter Benson the author Peter Benson the Heartbeat actor , president of Pharmacia Hospital Care, added, "We are delighted to have secured the rights to develop this product, which will provide an excellent fit with our critical care portfolio. We are confident that we can expand the existing market opportunities and are looking forward to working with Chiroscience on this program." Levobupivacaine is a single-isomer version of the currently marketed local anesthetic, bupivacaine. Chiroscience has already successfully completed two clinical trials on levobupivacaine, which demonstrated substantially reduced cardiotoxicity and an equivalent efficacy to the currently marketed product. Levobupivacaine is currently undergoing two Phase II/III clinical trials, comparing levobupivacaine with bupivacaine in central and peripheral anesthesia. These studies consist of randomized ran·dom·ize tr.v. ran·dom·ized, ran·dom·iz·ing, ran·dom·iz·es To make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. trials on 165 patients in three centers in the U.K. and are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 1996. Pharmacia ranks among the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and has leading positions in a number of therapeutic areas. Pharmacia and Upjohn have recently announced an agreement to merge their worldwide operations. The new company, Pharmacia and Upjohn, Inc., will rank among the world's top 10 pharmaceutical companies and will begin operating in late 1995. Pharmacia has a world-leading position in clinical nutrition Clinical nutrition The use of diet and nutritional supplements as a way to enhance health prevent disease. Mentioned in: Naturopathic Medicine and extensive experience in the area of clinical care and anesthesia. In addition, Pharmacia Hospital Care has recently launched a portfolio of inhalational anesthetic anesthetic Agent that produces a local or general loss of sensation, including pain, and therefore is useful in surgery and dentistry. General anesthesia induces loss of consciousness, most often using hydrocarbons (e.g. drugs on the European market and has a proprietary intravenous anesthetic intravenous anesthetic n. An agent that produces anesthesia when injected into the bloodstream via venipuncture. in development. Chiroscience was founded in 1992 and is among the world's leaders in the discovery, development and application of chiral technologies. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange London marketplace for securities. It was formed in 1773 by a group of stockbrokers who had been doing business informally in local coffeehouses. in February 1994 and has two principal areas of focus: the discovery and development of single-isomer drugs and the provision of a chiral technology service to other pharmaceutical companies. Chiroscience's pharmaceutical pipeline currently comprises four novel inhibitor programs, targeting inflammatory conditions (arthritis and asthma) and cancer, and five single-isomer development programs in varying stages of preclinical preclinical /pre·clin·i·cal/ (-klin´i-k'l) before a disease becomes clinically recognizable. pre·clin·i·cal adj. 1. and clinical development. The company's commercial strategy for its pharmaceutical products is to form collaborations with companies which already have a substantial presence in the various markets targeted by Chiroscience's programs. CONTACT: Shandwick Healthcare Hope W. Cunningham, 212/420-8100, ext. 233 |
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