Endo Health Solutions is to acquire NuPathe and its migraine patch treatment in a deal that will see it pay $105m for the US-based pain specialist.
The move expands Endo’s existing pain management business and brings NuPathe’s lead product, the migraine treatment Zecuity, into the fold.
As part of the agreement, NuPathe is also eligible to receive additional cash payments if Endo meets sales targets for Zecuity, which is a single-use patch version of the painkiller sumatriptan – the active ingredient in GlaxoSmithKline’s Imitrex.
NuPathe has previously announced its intention to seek a partnership to maximise the commercial potential of Zecuity, which became the first approved prescription migraine patch in the US at the beginning of the year.
As such, NuPathe has delayed launching Zecuity in the US, sating “the timing of the launch of Zecuity will be dependent upon the completion of a commercial partnership for Zecuity and/or obtaining the additional capital required for launch”.
They now have such a partner in Endo, which has experience in pain management via products such as Frova (frovatriptan succinate), Zydone (hydrocodone bitartrate/acetaminophen) and the Opana (oxymorphone hydrochloride) franchise of products.
Endo also has an existing pain patch in the form of Lidoderm, which contains the active ingredient lidocaine.
Rajiv De Silva, president and CEO of Endo, confirmed that the company intends to launch Zecuity in the first half of 2014.
The company will do this by “leveraging [its] existing commercial expertise in pain and migraine management and the current infrastructure of our branded pharmaceuticals business overall,” said De Silva.
NuPathe’s CEO Armando Anido said: ”We believe this acquisition by Endo will increase the potential for Zecuity to make a meaningful difference for patients we have worked so hard to serve.”