Raleigh-based Salix Pharmaceuticals has purchased rights to several gastrointestinal disease therapies from German drug maker Dr. Falk Pharma.
Dr. Falk, headquartered in Freiburg, has granted Salix a license to its family of budesonide products in the United States, which includes a patent-protected budesonide rectal foam and a budesonide gastro-resistant capsule. The products are approved and marketed in Europe, in the United Kingdom and Germany. In the United States the rectal foam and gastro-resistant capsule products have patent coverage until 2015 and 2016, respectively.
The agreement calls for Salix to make an up-front payment and regulatory milestone payments to Dr. Falk, with the majority contingent upon achievement of U.S. regulatory approval. In addition, Salix will pay royalties on net sales.
Both companies market prescription pharmaceutical products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Salix's strategy is to in-license late-stage or marketed proprietary therapeutic drugs, complete any required development and regulatory submission of these products, and market them through the company's gastroenterology specialty sales and marketing team.
