Azur Pharma Limited (Azur Pharma) licensed the exclusive US marketing rights for Niravam (alprazolam orally disintegrating tablets), Parcopa (carbidopa-levodopa orally disintegrating tablets), Kemstro (baclofen orally disintegrating tablets) and Fluxid (famotidine orally disintegrating tablets) from UCB. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Niravam, Parcopa and Kemstro are central nervous system (CNS) products. Azur Pharma's CNS business currently markets FazaClo in the US for the management of severely ill schizophrenic patients who fail to respond adequately to standard schizophrenia drug treatments. FazaClo is supplied as an innovative orally disintegrating tablet that uses proprietary formulation technologies licensed from CIMA Labs Inc. (CIMA), a subsidiary of Cephalon Inc.
Seamus Mulligan, chairman and chief executive of Azur stated, "We are pleased to add these valuable products to our portfolio. In particular, Niravam, Parcopa and Kemstro represent a broadening of our CNS franchise and are consistent with our approach of improving our products through the application of value added drug delivery technologies."
Niravam and Parcopa have been commercially available in the US since 2005 and 2004, respectively. There is one approved generic competitor to Parcopa. Two ANDAs to Niravam have been filed with the FDA. Kemstro and Fluxid are both FDA approved but not yet commercially available in the US.
Azur is a privately held pharmaceutical company dedicated to enhancing patients' lives by developing and marketing pharmaceutical products in specialist therapeutic areas.