CAMBRIDGE, UK, Sept. 16, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- CeNeS Pharmaceuticals Plc (LSE:CEN) today announced that it's drug delivery division, based in Scotland, has signed a strategic alliance with International Processing Corporation (IPC), a subsidiary of the $38 billion turnover Cardinal Health organization in the USA, to co-promote CeNeS' oral drug delivery technology.
Under the terms of the agreement the two companies will co-market CeNeS' OSAT technology (Oral Sustained Action Technology) in the USA, the world's largest market for drug delivery technologies. CeNeS Drug Delivery will be responsible for all formulation, development and supply of product for clinical Phases I and II, and IPC will be responsible for manufacture of Phase III and in-market supply.
OSAT is a technology that offers sustained release of drugs over an extended period of time, allowing medication to be taken once daily. Drugs formulated using OSAT can be given as tablets or can be made as powders, which patients take after mixing with liquid. This kind of flexibility makes OSAT particularly useful for drugs for treating children, the elderly and for patients with swallowing difficulties.
Daniel Roach, Chief Executive of CeNeS said:
"As well as increasing the amount of resources being applied to identifying and securing partners for the development of drugs using OSAT technology, this collaboration brings together CeNeS' patented drug delivery technology with IPC's production scale FDA registered manufacturing facility based in North America."
CeNeS Drug Delivery, a subsidiary of CeNeS Pharmaceutical plc, is a biopharmaceutical company specialising in the development and commercialisation of drugs for CNS disorders and pain control. The company currently markets three products, and has a research and development pipeline-targeting stroke, schizophrenia, addiction, sleep disorders, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. CeNeS also has a cognitive division, which markets CANTAB, a computerized cognitive test, and a drug delivery division. In addition it has a range of platform technologies including AutoPatch(TM) its unique automated patch clamping technology. The group has around 130 staff working from modern research and manufacturing facilities in Cambridge, England, Irvine, Scotland and Boston, USA.
IPC specializes in producing solid-dose formulations using advanced manufacturing technologies that enable the company to develop and produce medicines that release drug compounds into the bloodstream over specific periods of time. The technology involves applying specialized coatings to granular particles of drug compounds, which are then formed into oral tablets and capsules by IPC or its customers. IPC's techniques also can be used to "taste-mask" oral drugs, making them more palatable and therefore improving patient compliance in taking medications as prescribed.
The technology can be applied to many different classes of drugs to alter and improve their therapeutic benefits. Medicines incorporating IPC's drug-delivery methods often provide performance advantages versus competing products.
Notes to Editors:
International Processing Corporation (http://www.ipcky.com) is a member of Cardinal Health Inc.'s Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services group. Cardinal Health Inc (http://www.cardinal.com) is a leading provider of products and services supporting the healthcare industry. The company also develops, manufactures, packages and markets products for patient care. The company, which is headquartered in Dublin, employs more than 45,000 people in five continents and produces annual revenues of more than $38 billion.
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