The University of Rochester has signed a license agreement with Pfizer which will allow Pfizer to market a specific class of non-hormonal drugs for the treatment of hot flashes associated with menopause.

Pfizer is developing a drug that quells hot flashes by targeting the mechanism covered by Rochester's patent. Under the terms of the nonexclusive license, Pfizer will pay the University an initial fee, and two clinical milestone payments to be made when its drug clears important hurdles in the development process. If the Food and Drug Administration approves the drug for the treatment of hot flashes and it is brought to market, Pfizer will pay royalties to the University based on sales of the drug, a release from University of Rochester said.

The University of Rochester was granted a "method of treatment" patent in 2001 that covers the use of drugs that treat hot flashes by targeting a specific group of cells in the hypothalamus, the region of the brain that regulates body temperature. The proposed link between those cells and hot flashes was suggested by Thomas Guttuso, Jr., who had been conducting research in the University of Rochester's School of Medicine and Dentistry as part of a fellowship programme in Neurology.

For tens of millions of women who suffer from hot flashes, such a drug would be a welcome alternative to hormone replacement therapy, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer in some patients, the release opines.