Orexigen Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Orexigen Therapeutics Ireland Ltd., and Navamedic AB, an affiliate of Navamedic ASA, have executed a distributorship agreement covering Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden for Mysimba (naltrexone HCl / bupropion HCl prolonged release).  Navamedic ASA manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and medical technology to patients, hospitals and pharmacies in the Nordic, Benelux and Baltic markets.

"Navamedic ASA is strongly embedded across the Nordic countries and uniquely positioned to bring Mysimba to patients in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland," said Dr. Thomas Cannell, chief operating officer and president of global commercial products of Orexigen. "We have now successfully entered into partnerships covering 44 countries outside the US, and this latest agreement marks our fifth partnership in Europe. With global obesity rates on the rise, we are committed to leveraging our extensive alliance management capabilities to make Mysimba available to patients who struggle to lose weight in the Nordics and around the world."

Under the partnership, Navamedic will be responsible for all commercialization activity and expenses. Orexigen will supply Mysimba tablets to Navamedic for a negotiated transfer price and upfront milestone payments at signing and first commercialization sales. Additional payments will be based on sales levels. Navamedic ASA estimates that Mysimba will be available to patients in the Nordic markets by the fourth quarter of this year.

Obesity and related comorbidities are a significant health problem across the Nordic countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that obesity rates will continue to climb in this region.  According to data provided by the WHO, the percentage of the adult population struggling with obesity in these countries is: Denmark (19.3), Finland (20.4), Iceland (22.8), Norway (23.1), and Sweden (20.5).