Rhei Pharmaceuticals has licensed from Flamel Technologies, SA the exclusive right to market Asacard in the greater China region (including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau). Asacard is a controlled release formulation of aspirin. Flamel will manufacture commercial supply of the product at its facilities in Pessac, France. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"We believe Asacard represents a technical innovation in aspirin and we are excited to bring Flamel's unique formulation of low dose aspirin to the China market," Dr. Sylvia He, CEO of Rhei Pharmaceuticals said adding, "Cardiovascular disease accounts for more deaths in China than any other single disease state. The market is growing by more than 20% each year as the availability of treatment regimens come closer to those seen in the United States."

Stephen H. Willard, Flamel's CEO, stated, "We have long maintained that Asacard is an excellent product that offers all of aspirin's therapeutic benefits while strongly limiting the side-effects that often accompany chronic use of this otherwise well-tolerated molecule. We are pleased to avail ourselves of Rhei's expertise in developing and commercializing drugs for the Chinese market, offering us an excellent opportunity to access an area of strong demographic potential."

Asacard is a controlled release formulation of aspirin for prophylactic cardiovascular indications. Using the Flamel's Micro pump technology platform, Asacard is designed to provide effective and safe therapy for cardiovascular treatment. Its safety and efficacy for this indication comes from controlling the release of aspirin while providing cardiovascular benefits similar to conventional aspirin formulations. Asacard is differentiated from conventional aspirin in that it reduces gastrointestinal side effects. Asacard is the only aspirin formulation that significantly controls the rate of release of aspirin in the systemic circulation system, thus avoiding Cox 1 inhibition, the major cause of gastrointestinal problems. Additionally, its micro particle coating protects the stomach and intestine linings from direct contact with the aspirin. Asacard is currently approved for marketing in 11 countries including France and the United Kingdom.

Rhei Pharmaceuticals, a venture backed specialty pharmaceutical company with operations in the US and in china, specializes in hospital-based proprietary products with a therapeutic focus on urgent unmet needs in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, pain, anti-infective, and other life threatening conditions.