Daiichi Sankyo US unit buys Roxro Pharma to gain pain drug SPRIX

Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, a New York, USA-based subsidiary of Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo (TKO: 4568), has signed a binding merger agreement with privately-held Roxro Pharma, a US specialty pharmaceutical company developing products for the treatment of acute pain conditions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In May this year, Roxro obtained Food and Drug Administration approval for SPRIX (ketorolac tromethamine) Nasal Spray, for the short-term (up to five days) management of acute moderate to moderately severe pain that requires analgesia at the opioid level. SPRIX is a prescription intranasal formulation of the analgesic ketorolac tromethamine (previously marketed as Toradol by Roche Laboratories), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). SPRIX is designed to provide ambulatory patients with a convenient, potent and fast-acting option for acute moderate to moderately severe pain relief.

Mary Jane Helenek, president and chief executive of Luitpold said: “We are pleased to be able to provide health care professionals with an important new non-narcotic analgesic to treat acute pain in ambulatory patients. We believe that SPRIX will be highly complementary to Luitpold’s existing product line and our continuing strategy to diversify our product portfolio and further grow our US pharmaceutical business.”