MALVERN, Pa., July 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recro Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:REPH), a revenue generating specialty pharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics for hospital and other acute care settings, today announced the acquisition of exclusive global rights to two novel neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBs) and a proprietary chemical reversal agent from Cornell University. The assets include one novel intermediate-acting neuromuscular blocking agent that has completed Phase I trials, one short-acting neuromuscular blocking agent, as well as a rapid-acting reversal agent proprietary to these compounds. The novel neuromuscular blocking agents acquired through this agreement permit a very rapid induction of neuromuscular blockade at the onset of use and the novel reversal agent will provide for more rapid reversal of the neuromuscular blockade. These novel agents may meaningfully reduce the patient’s post-procedure time in the operating room or post-acute care unit and could provide valuable cost savings to hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers.
“Cornell University is pleased to have licensed a series of proprietary neuromuscular blocking drugs to Recro Pharma Inc. and we look forward to working with them to commercialize this much needed technology for the benefit of patients and the medical community,” said Dr. Brian Kelly, the Director of Cornell’s Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University.
“This transaction strengthens our portfolio with the addition of several novel compounds, which have the potential to be significant contributors within the surgical anesthesia space and complement our existing pipeline of hospital/acute care pain products,” said Gerri Henwood, President and Chief Executive Officer of Recro Pharma. “As we continue to advance our lead pipeline candidate, IV meloxicam, for the treatment of moderate to severe pain, toward an NDA filing in early third quarter of 2017, we see value in building our in-hospital product portfolio and believe that we can leverage our expertise in the field to efficiently develop these differentiated agents. The development effort for these agents was anticipated in our planned pipeline spend through 2018.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Recro Pharma will pay Cornell a six figure initial up-front fee. Cornell is entitled to receive additional milestone payments in the millions per each acquired candidate upon the achievement of certain US and EU regulatory approval and commercial milestones, as well as additional net sales milestone payments and royalties, in each case, related to the acquired agents.
About Recro Pharma, Inc.
Recro is a specialty pharmaceutical company that operates through two business divisions, an Acute Care, hospital product division and a revenue-generating contract development and manufacturing, or CDMO division, located at the Company’s Gainesville facility. The Acute Care division is primarily focused on developing innovative products for hospital and other acute care settings. The Company’s lead product candidate is a proprietary injectable form of meloxicam, a long-acting preferential COX-2 inhibitor. IV meloxicam has successfully completed four Phase II clinical trials in the management of moderate to severe post-operative pain and two pivotal Phase III clinical efficacy trials in patients following bunionectomy and abdominoplasty surgeries, as well as a large double blind Phase III safety trial and other safety studies. As injectable meloxicam is in the non-opioid class of drugs, the Company believes it will overcome many of the issues associated with commonly prescribed opioid therapeutics, including respiratory depression, constipation, excessive nausea and vomiting, as well as having no addictive potential while maintaining meaningful analgesic effects for relief of pain. The Company’s CDMO division leverages its formulation expertise to develop and manufacture pharmaceutical products using its proprietary delivery technologies and other manufacturing services for commercial partners who commercialize or plan to commercialize these products. These collaborations can result in revenue streams including royalties, profit sharing, research and development and manufacturing fees, which support continued operations for its CDMO division and it contributes non-dilutive funding for the development and pre-commercialization activities of its Acute Care division.
