The Canada-based transdermal drug development firm Nuvo Research Inc and Daiichi-Ranbaxy, the Indian subsidiary of Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo has entered into an exclusive license agreement for the supply and distribution of Oxoferin, a topical wound healing agent in some Asian countries.

The deal has been signed between Dimethaid GmbH, the German subsidiary of Nuvo and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd to supply the product in Malaysia, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Singapore. Under the terms of the agreement, Nuvo will manufacture and supply Oxoferin to Ranbaxy, while the latter will be responsible for obtaining regulatory approval in the licensed territories and has committed to minimum annual purchase quantities once approved.

Oxoferin is a diluted form of Nuvo's immune modulating drug candidate WF10. The immune system provides an essential defense to micro organisms, cancer and substances it sees as foreign and potentially harmful. WF10 focuses on supporting the immune system by targeting the macrophage, a type of white blood cell that coordinates much of the immune system, to regulate normal immune function.

Nuvo is developing the drug with the support of Development Bank of Saxony in Germany (SAB). Apart from the recently announced support of financial support for Nuvo's co-operative drug development project with the Fraunhofer Institute of Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI to include pre-clinical and early clinical development of WF10 as a treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis, the SAB has now announced additional fundings for the research, reveals the Nuvo officials.This support is in addition to the SAB's financial support for the ongoing pre-clinical and clinical development of WF10 as a treatment for Allergic Rhinitis.

In aggregate, the SAB has now committed to provide funding over a three-year period of approximately US$ 3.5 million towards the US$ 6 million estimated cost of these two development projects that are being conducted in Leipzig, Germany by Nuvo Research GmbH, a Nuvo subsidiary.

"These agreements provide further evidence of the potential for WF10," said Henrich Guntermann, president and chief executive officer of Nuvo Research. "Additionally, the financial support allows us to move our drug development pipeline forward more expeditiously."

Nuvo is primarily focused on the research and development of drug products delivered to and through the skin using its topical and transdermal drug delivery technologies.