NovaBiotics Ltd, the Aberdeen-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, has entered into an exclusive agreement with Taro Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. (Taro) to licence and co-develop Novexatin, the company’s first-in-class antifungal peptide treatment for fungal nail infections.

Novexatin is an investigational drug that is expected to enter a multi-centre phase IIb study for mild-to-moderate onychomycosis in the US. NovaBiotics and Taro will jointly manage the study and other development activities for Novexatin, with Taro as lead partner in the programme.

Dr. Deborah O’Neil, CEO and scientific officer of NovaBiotics, commented: “Novexatin is an antifungal technology that has the potential to positively affect the onychomycosis space with the key advantage of delivering results within a short treatment period of 28 days. As a leader in dermatology, Taro is an excellent fit for NovaBiotics and our ambitions for Novexatin.”

Novexatin is a topical treatment for fungal nail infections (onychomycosis). The active pharmaceutical agent of this medicinal candidate is NovaBiotics’ novel, patented antifungal peptide, NP213, which was developed specifically as a safe, fast-acting nail penetrating fungicidal molecule from the company’s proprietary antimicrobial peptide platform.

According to GlobalData, the onychomycosis market in 2012 had generic antifungal sales of USD$548.44 million and is expected to grow by 19.5% annually over the next decade and reach total revenue sales (US) of over USD$3.26 billion by 2022.