Newron gets new partner for safinamide

Italy-headquartered R&D firm Newron Pharmaceuticals (SIX: NWRN) yesterday revealed that it has agreed with Japan’s Meiji Seika Pharma, a subsidiary of the Meiji Holdings, on the principal terms and conditions of a license transaction covering the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of Parkinson’s disease drug candidate safinamide in Japan and key Asian territories. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

A definitive agreement will be completed shortly and will become effective upon the return of the global rights to safinamide from Merck Serono, a subsidiary of German company Merck KGaA (MRK: DE), to Newron by April 17, 2012. As a result of Merck returning rights to the drug, which in the German drug major’s view has a more limited market potential than originally anticipated, Finland-based Biotie pulled out of a planned 45 million-euro ($58.4 million) acquisition of Newron (The Pharma Letter October 28, 2011).

Luca Benatti, chief executive of Newron, said: “We are excited to have reached agreement with Meiji Seika Pharma so soon after initiating talks to re-partner the safinamide rights, and we are looking forward very much to the collaboration with our new partner. We are in ongoing talks on other territories and anticipate further news on this in due course.”