Debiopharm S.A., the independent drug-development company specialising in oncology, endocrinology and niche products, has acknowledged a new marketing and supply agreement between Paladin Labs Inc., a leading Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company and Watson Pharma, Inc., a subsidiary of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.to market Trelstar 3.75 mg and Trelstar LA 11.25 mg (triptorelin pamoate for injectable suspension) in Canada.
Debiopharm developed both products and was responsible for submitting the registration file to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to Health Canada, the Canadian health authorities. Trelstar 3.75 mg and Trelstar LA 11.25 mg are respectively one and three-month sustained release, injectable formulations of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists and have been approved by Health Canada for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Trelstar 3.75 mg is also approved for the treatment of endometriosis, stated a company release.
Trelstar 3.75mg and Trelstar LA 11.25mg, were formulated at Debio R.P., Debio's FDA-inspected production site in Martigny, Switzerland, using the Debio PLGA proprietary technology. Debio R.P. supplies both formulations of Trelstar to the US and Canada. In April 2005, Watson launched Trelstar Depot and Trelstar LA in the US. Paladin expects to launch both products in Canada in the fourth quarter of 2005. In the second quarter of 2005, Rowfarma, Debiopharm's licensee for Mexico, will launch Decapeptyl (another tradename of Trelstar) in Mexico. In Europe, triptorelin has been successfully marketed by Ipsen as Decapeptyl for 20 years.