SkinMedica Inc, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing dermatology products, announced that it is the winning bidder to acquire all US rights and certain international rights to Vaniqa (eflornithine hydrochloride) Cream, 13.9 per cent from Women First HealthCare. The US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware confirmed SkinMedica as the winning bidder and approved the sale. The acquisition will be funded by a combination of debt and private equity and is expected to close in mid-July, a company release said.

SkinMedica will acquire Vaniqa from Women First HealthCare for $36.6 million. Under the terms of a new supply agreement, Bristol Myers Squibb will continue to manufacture Vaniqa for SkinMedica. The acquisition provides SkinMedica with its second prescription product to be sold in the $7.8 billion prescription dermatology market in the US.

"This strategic acquisition allows us to grow our business by strengthening SkinMedica's portfolio with a product to sell side-by-side with EpiQuin Micro and leverage our dermatology expertise," said Rex Bright, president and CEO of SkinMedica Inc. "We're delighted to move forward with our plans to re-launch VANIQA with our national sales force that is already calling on top dermatologists to maximize the product's unrealized sales potential," he added.

Gillette and Bristol Myers Squibb developed eflornithine for inhibition of facial hair growth and obtained FDA approval in 2000 as a prescription product in the US. They launched the product, and then later concluded that the Vaniqa business no longer fit the strategic focus of the respective companies and sold the product to Women First HealthCare in June 2002.

Vaniqa is the only prescription pharmaceutical product approved by the US FDA to slow the growth of unwanted facial hair in women. It is indicated for the reduction of unwanted facial hair in women and works by blocking an enzyme necessary for hair growth. The product has been shown to retard the rate of hair growth in non-clinical and clinical studies.