Esteve could earn $1 billion from pain partnership with Mundipharma and Purdue

Privately-held Swiss drugmaker Mundipharma Laboratories and its independent associated company, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, have entered into a global multi-program discovery and development collaboration with privately held Spanish firm Laboratorios Esteve, to bring to market important next generation products for the management of pain.                      

Under the agreements Mundipharma and Purdue could potentially make payments to Esteve exceeding $1 billion if all development, regulatory and sales milestones are met across the different programs.

The agreements bring together mid-sized, privately owned companies in a strategic collaboration that leverages their individual strengths, combining Mundipharma’s and Purdue’s commitment to the development and commercialization of novel pain treatments together with Esteve’s extensive pain focused research and development expertise, particularly in the field of sigma-1 receptor biology, where they have been R&D leaders for over 10 years.

For Mundipharma and Purdue, the partnership will see the companies expand their pain franchise into neuropathic, acute and moderate pain in addition to existing expertise in opioids and severe pain. For Esteve, the agreements validate its consistent investment into innovative R&D as well as its continued emphasis on identifying novel approaches to treat the significant unmet medical needs of people living with pain.