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MALVERN, Pa. — Endo Health Solutions plans to acquire specialty drug maker NuPathe Inc. in a $105 million cash deal.
Endo said Monday that the acquisition deal, expected to close early next year, would extend its pain management offerings with the addition of Zecuity, the first and only Food and Drug Administration-approved prescription patch for the treatment of migraine.
A disposable, single-use, battery-powered transdermal patch, Zecuity actively delivers sumatriptan, the most widely prescribed migraine medication, through the skin. The product, approved by the FDA in January, provides relief of migraine headache pain and migraine-related nausea. Zecuity (sumatriptan iontophoretic transdermal system) is expected to launch in the first half of 2014.
"The acquisition of NuPathe enhances our branded pharmaceutical portfolio and is well-aligned with our strategy of acquiring late-stage products for commercialization," stated Rajiv De Silva, president and chief executive officer of Endo. "We’re excited about the opportunity to launch Zecuity, a treatment that could be an option for millions of migraine patients, including those with migraine-related nausea.
"Following the close of the deal, we plan to launch Zecuity in the first half of 2014 by leveraging our existing commercial expertise in pain and migraine management and the current infrastructure of our branded pharmaceuticals business overall," De Silva added.
After the user applies the patch and presses a button, Zecuity initiates transdermal delivery (through the skin), bypassing the gastrointestinal tract. Throughout the four-hour dosing period, Zecuity’s microprocessor continuously monitors skin resistance and adjusts drug delivery accordingly to ensure delivery of 6.5 mg of sumatriptan.
"Our team has worked very hard to develop products that we believe will provide significant clinical advantages over current treatments for patient populations facing diseases of the central nervous system," commented Armando Anido, CEO of NuPathe. "We believe this acquisition by Endo will increase the potential for Zecuity to make a meaningful difference for patients we have worked so hard to serve."
