Santhera regains rights to Fipamezole in North America

Santhera Pharmaceuticals has announced that as of January 2011 it regains the US and Canadian rights for fipamezole from Biovail Laboratories, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Fipamezole is being prepared for Phase III development for the treatment of Dyskinesia in Parkinson’s Disease. In August 2009, Santhera granted Biovail the right to develop and commercialize fipamezole in North America, for which Santhera received $12 million upfront and milestone payments. As part of the post-merger review, Biovail has decided to return the fipamezole project as a result of a shift in strategic focus of the new Valeant group. Santhera is committed to take on the Phase III development of the product for the North American markets. In September 2010, Santhera and Ipsen signed a separate collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of fipamezole outside North America and Japan.

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