Eisai takes Almirall's cinitapride to China

Almirall SA has signed an agreement with Eisai Co Ltd granting Eisai the marketing rights to Almirall's gastroprokinetic agent cinitapride in China. The Spain- and Japan-headquartered companies have common interests in the gastrointestinal area; as well as Almirall's antihistamine Ebastine, which Eisai has made available in China since 2001, the partners have other shared projects in the market.

Currently marketed in Spain and Mexico under the names Cidine, Blaston and Pemix, cinitapride, developed by Almirall, is an orthopramide with prokinetic activity on the gastrointestinal tract, which blocks the presynaptic serotonin receptors and has antidopaminergic activity. Its marked procholinergic action improves gastrointestinal motility.

In Spain cinitapride is indicated for treating mild to moderate dysmotility-type dyspepsia and as an adjunctive therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in patients for whom proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy has been shown to be insufficient.

Almirall already has a significant presence in Japan, Korea and Australia. Partnering with Eisai to market cinitapride in China is another aspect of Almirall's strategy to expand its presence in the Asian market through the distribution of its main R&D medicines.

This is a key focus for Almirall, which dedicates 15 per cent of its human resources to R&D and 20 per cent of its total revenue to drug discovery, and — through its own drugs and licences — has a presence in more than 100 countries worldwide.