Novartis returns rights to FDA-approved Xtoro

1 August 2018

Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) has made a portfolio decision and terminated the license between its subsidiary and Singapore-based MerLion Pharmaceuticals executed in 2010 and returned all rights to the antibacterial drug Xtoro (finafloxacin) in North America to MerLion.

MerLion announced in 2015 that Xtoro had been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of acute otitis externa, commonly known as “swimmer’s ear,” caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. MerLion now owns all global rights to Xtoro.

Finafloxacin was licensed by MerLion to Alcon (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Novartis) in 2011 for use in North America for otic infections.

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