Durect Corporation has amended its development and commercialization agreement with Alza Corporation under which Durect holds exclusive rights to develop, commercialize and manufacture products using Alza's patented Duros technology in selected fields of use. Under the amended agreement, Durect's maintenance of exclusivity in its licensed fields is no longer subject to minimum annual requirements for development spending or the number of products it has under development.

"These changes to the agreement align more closely the interests of Durect and Alza and further strengthen the collaboration between the two companies," said Dr. James Brown, Durect's President and CEO. "We believe that this will greatly enhance our ability to focus our resources on the continued development of therapies incorporating the Duros technology."

The commercial diligence requirements under the previous agreement were also amended to provide that Durect retain exclusive commercialization rights to products developed under this Agreement on a worldwide basis as long as Durect has commercialized such products in selected major market countries. In addition, Alza and Durect may collaborate to commercialize selected products under specified terms