ProStrakan's Sancuso out-licensed by Solasia in Asia

UK specialty pharmaceutical firm ProStrakan says that Solasia Pharma, the group's partner for Sancuso in various Asian markets, has entered into a license agreement with Japan's Kyowa Hakko Kirin, granting the latter exclusive right to market and sell the product in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

Sancuso is a transdermal patch that delivers granisetron, an established 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, steadily into the bloodstream for several days, helping to prevent the side-effects of nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy for up to five consecutive days, without the need for daily injections or having to swallow pills.

Sancuso received a marketing authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration in September 2008 and was launched in the USA in November of that year. The drug generated US sales of £6.1 million ($9.3 million) in its first 10 months on the market. ProStrakan noted in it interim management statement last year that, while original uptake of the drug was good, US sales slowed in the summer and has, as a result, regained some control of marketing from licensee NovaQuest, which also means the UK firm will pay the US company lower royalties.