WARREN, N.J. and BALERNA, Switzerland, June 9 /PRNewswire/ — MonoSol Rx, the developers of PharmFilm® technology and a drug delivery company specializing in proprietary pharmaceutical film products, and APR Applied Pharma Research s.a. (“APR”) announced today an expansion of their relationship to identify and develop film formulations of prescription drug products beyond ondansetron and donepezil to include zolmitriptan. Zolmitriptan is currently commercially available for the treatment of migraine headaches in adults, and faces initial patent expirations in 2013.
“MonoSol Rx and APR truly understand the value that PharmFilm® offers throughout the pharmaceutical industry,” said A. Mark Schobel, president and chief executive officer of MonoSol Rx. “Given our shared expertise, the expansion of this collaboration creates a unique opportunity to broaden the development reach for prescription film products. We look forward to leveraging the capabilities and skills of our partner APR as well as the unique attributes of our PharmFilm® technology to advance several drug targets for film delivery.”
MonoSol Rx, along with APR and its partner Labtec GmbH, previously collaborated to develop, commercialize and market ondansetron and donepezil in film. APR, headquartered in Switzerland, is a research and development company focused on the development and licensing of value-added, innovative, selected drug candidates using proprietary and innovative oral and topical delivery systems.
Paolo Galfetti, CEO of APR, remarked, “MonoSol Rx is the clear global leader in pharmaceutical film. We are excited to work together to leverage this drug delivery system to create benefits for patients, physicians and caregivers. Several near-term opportunities exist to transition currently approved drugs to film formulations as a means to improve compliance, differentiation and marketability.”
About MonoSol Rx
MonoSol Rx is a specialty pharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary PharmFilm® technology to deliver unique proprietary pharmaceutical drug films for small and large molecules. PharmFilm® is designed to benefit patients by improving the convenience, efficacy, and compliance of new and currently marketed drugs. The Company’s leadership in film drug delivery is supported by strong intellectual property, a portfolio of commercialized over-the-counter (OTC) drug products, and a development pipeline of prescription formulations based on PharmFilm® technology. With a vertically integrated development and production infrastructure, MonoSol Rx has the capacity to manufacture OTC drug products for near-term revenues that fund prescription product development programs that will generate long-term value.
The Company’s commercialization strategy for all PharmFilm® products is to partner with the innovator, other specialty pharma or leading consumer products companies that can sell-in and manage product sales and marketing. For existing and future partners, PharmFilm® formulations represent revenue-life cycle extensions for products with patent lives that have expired or are approaching expiration. PharmFilm® is also a tool to help sales and marketing partners differentiate in competitive markets while offering unique advantages over drugs dosed by traditional tablets, capsules and orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs).
About APR Applied Pharma Research s.a.
APR Applied Pharma Research s.a. is a private, internationally oriented Healthcare Company headquartered in Switzerland with a subsidiary in Charlotte (NC, USA) and concentrated in the research, development and licensing of innovative, value added and patented healthcare products. The company focuses its efforts in three major areas: development and licensing of selected, patented drug candidates based on proprietary oral and topical delivery systems; fund and finance of innovative Healthcare projects by providing a balanced mix of capital and know how; support to companies for the development of third party projects on a contract basis.