BRIEF — Medimetriks divests exclusive US rights for Xepi to Cutanea

Dermatology specialist Medimetriks Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has divested exclusive US rights for Xepi (ozenoxacin cream), 1% to Cutanea Life Sciences for up to $30 million, with $29 million to be paid in 2018, plus the assumption of $5 million in liabilities related to Xepi.

Medimetriks retains generic rights to the product. Xepi is a new bactericidal, non-fluorinated quinolone for the treatment of impetigo that Medimetriks licensed from Ferrer, a privately-held Spanish pharma company, in March, 2014.

Xepi was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in December, 2017.

Bradley Glassman, chairman and chief executive of Medimetriks, said: “We believe Xepi is an important new treatment for patients suffering from impetigo, a common, highly contagious bacterial skin infection. We are pleased that Xepi will be commercialized by Cutanea."

"The sale of Xepi is strategically important so we can substantially retire our debt owed to Knight Therapeutics. We are focused on building our core dermatology business while developing our Phase III-ready asset, MM36."

MM36 is a topical non-steroidal phosphodiesterase IV inhibitor in development for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis that recently completed Phase II studies.