Cadila Pharma ties up with Swedish firm NovaSAID

Companies will collaborate to develop arthritis drugs and market them globally

Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals today said that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Swedish company NovaSAID AB to develop new treatments for inflammation and pain in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

According to the agreement, all revenue generated from the sale and marketing in India, Middle East and Africa of products covered by the agreement will be retained by Cadila and net sales in all other countries will be shared by the two companies.

The companies will collaborate around preclinical and clinical development of drug candidates that have been developed by NovaSAID and the development will be conducted at Cadila Pharmaceuticals' facility in Ahmedabad. Cadila will bear all costs associated with the program through to Phase II.

"This partnership gives the shareholders of NovaSAID the opportunity to take the company forward with great resources and no further costs. Cadila's drug development expertise matched with NovaSAID's scientific excellence provides a solid platform for the further development of these novel drug candidates. If successfully developed, valuable deals could be signed in major territories such as the US and Europe to the benefit for Karolinska Development's shareholders", said Torbjörn Bjerke, chief executive officer of Karolinska Development. NovaSAID is a company in Karolinska Development's portfolio.

Rajiv I Modi, chairman and managing director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals said: "We have entered this partnership combining scientific expertise of NovaSAID and our drug development capabilities to work towards novel solutions in treatment of pain and inflammation, which is one of the largest therapy areas."

He added that Cadila Pharmaceuticals has a track record of making available, many  innovative products like Polycap (pill for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases), Risorine (for treatment of Tuberculosis) and most recently introduced Mycidac-C, which is the world's first active immunotherapy in lung cancer.

A company statement here claimed that "Most of today's medical treatments for inflammation and pain are associated with unwanted side effects such as an increased risk for myocardial infarction and gastric ulcers. NovaSAID's drug candidates targets an enzyme called microsomal prostaglandin E synthase -1 (mPGES-1), a critically important mediator of inflammation and pain, which theoretically should reduce the risk for side effects."