Hikma to distribute Eisai’s Fycompa in Middle East

Fast-growing Jordan-based drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals (LSE: HIK) has entered into a partnership with Japanese pharma major Eisai (TYO: 4523) for the distribution of Fycompa(perampanel), Eisai’s first-in-class epilepsy treatment, in the Middle East.

The partnership will commence immediately, with perampanel launches throughout the region expected to follow in 2015. Perampanel is indicated for the adjunctive treatment of partial onset seizures, with or without secondarily generalized seizures, in patients with epilepsy aged 12 years and older. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

According to the companies, perampanel is the only licensed anti-epileptic drug (AED) to selectively target AMPA receptors, a protein in the brain which plays a critical role in the spread of seizures.This mechanism of action is different to other currently available AEDs. In addition, perampanel has the added benefit of convenient, once-daily dosing at bedtime.

Territories covered by deal

Countries covered by the five-year partnership will include the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Perampanel was approved by the European Commission in July 2012 and the US Food and Drug Administration in October 2012. Discovered and developed by Eisai in Europe and Japan, perampanel is manufactured in the UK.