Alpharma sub inks $202M deal for pain drug

A subsidiary of Alpharma has agreed to pay Germany's IDEA up to $202 million in upfront fees and milestones for the U.S. rights to the late-stage pain drug Diractin (ketoprofen in Transfersome gel), a prescription topical NSAID. The license includes access to IDEA's Transfersome technology platform, which delivers drugs locally to targeted areas. IDEA gets $60 million of that sum up front, $77 million in near-term milestones and up to $65 million conditioned on U.S. approval. IDEA is covering the costs of studying the drug, which is currently in Phase III.

"Diractin is the first of many targeted products with reduced side-effects that we see coming from the exploitation of the powerful Transfersome technology platform," commented John Mayo, joint managing general partner of Celtic Pharmaceutical Holdings, a private equity firm.

- see this release on the deal

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