Nycomed and Norgine, a European specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that they have entered into a licensing agreement that gives Nycomed the exclusive rights to commercialise Moviprep, the worlds leading bowel cleansing brand, in Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Moviprep is an osmotic laxative for bowel cleansing prior to any clinical procedure requiring a clean bowel, such as colonoscopy. Moviprep will be subject to regulatory review and approval and Nycomed will conduct the necessary steps for approval. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

We are very pleased to further expand our recently established gastrointestinal product portfolio with Moviprep,” said Jostein Davidson, senior vice president, Nycomed Group, and president, Nycomed Russia-CIS.  “MOVIPREP has proven to be the preferred choice for bowel preparation in EU and Nycomed is proud to make this product a success in Russia/CIS improving quality of life of millions of patients.”

Norgine’s CEO, Peter Stein said: “This is an important agreement for Norgine as it will mark our entry into this fast developing market. We look forward to working with Nycomed to capitalise on their extensive sales and distribution network to help realise Moviprep’s potential in the CIS.”

Moviprep is marketed by Norgine through its own Sales and Marketing organisation and by Salix Pharmaceuticals in the USA, by Medical Futures in Canada, by PharmaSwiss in Central and Eastern Europe and is under development with Ajinomoto in Japan.

Norgine is an independent, successful European speciality pharmaceutical company and focus on the development and marketing of pharmaceutical products that address significant unmet clinical needs in therapeutic areas such as gastroenterology, hepatology and supportive care.

Nycomed is a privately owned global pharmaceutical company with a diversified portfolio focused on branded medicines in gastroenterology, respiratory and inflammatory diseases, pain, osteoporosis and tissue management.