Ergomed to benefit from Zoptrex Australasia deal

Specialised pharmaceutical services company Ergomed announced on Friday that its co-development partner, Aeterna Zentaris, has signed an additional licensing agreement for Zoptrex.

The AIM-traded firm said Aeterna Zentaris signed an exclusive license agreement on Wednesday with Specialised Therapeutics Asia for its lead anti-cancer compound, Zoptrex, for the territories of Australia and New Zealand for an upfront payment plus milestones and royalties.

In line with Ergomed's co-development agreement with Aeterna Zentaris, the company will receive a portion of all revenues generated from the commercialisation of the product.

The board described Zoptrex as a “novel synthetic peptide carrier” linked to doxorubicin, which is currently in a fully-enrolled Phase 3 clinical trial in endometrial cancer.

Aeterna Zentaris will, if the results of the trial warrant doing so, submit a new drug application for Zoptrex to the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2017.

Zoptrex is the proposed tradename for zoptarelin doxorubicin, which is subject to approval by the FDA, Ergomed said.

“This licensing agreement for Australia and New Zealand adds another two territories to the overall coverage now for Zoptrex and demonstrates the value of our co-development business,” said CEO Dr Miroslav Reljanovic.

“In line with our strategy to expand our co-development business, we also recently announced a new partnership which together with this licensing agreement, further validates our hybrid business model.”