Mercia's Medherant investment partners with Cycle Pharmaceuticals

Specialist regional asset manager Mercia Asset Management announced on Thursday that transdermal drug delivery company Medherant, in which it holds a 30.1% direct stake, has entered into a partnership with Cycle Pharmaceuticals to develop new products using Medherant's proprietary ‘TEPI Patch’ technology.

The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the partnership, Medherant will receive an initial upfront licence payment, with an additional upfront payment for each candidate drug targeted.

Medherant would also receive royalty payments on future sales of the products developed under the partnership using the TEPI Patch platform.

Mercia said work would begin immediately on the first two products, which would be reformulations of medicines used to treat rare neurological disorders - an area where it said improvements in ease-of-use were vital for compliance and quality of life.

Some of the benefits of the TEPI Patch technology included less frequent drug administration, reduced side effects, and improved patient compliance, it explained.

Following TEPI Patch formulation development by Medherant, Cycle would be responsible for clinical development and registration, and would commercialise the products.

“The collaboration with Cycle is an important development for Medherant and one which could ultimately help improve the lives of many patients suffering with rare neurological disorders,” said Mercia chief executive officer Mark Payton.

“This is a great example of how Medherant's innovative technology for the administering of medicines can create significant benefit for end-users.

“We are pleased to have supported Medherant for a number of years and look forward to them building on this success,” Dr Payton added.

At 1625 BST, shares in Mercia Asset Management were up 0.74% at 21.66p.