BTG acquires new opioid drug

London, UK-based drugmaker BTG has acquired an opioid agonist for the control of post-operative pain from CLL Pharma, a drug development company based in Nice, France, in return for undisclosed milestone and royalty payments.

The compound, to be called BTG6001, is an orally-active opioid agonist with a long duration of action, potentially reducing the amount of analgesic required for effective pain control, the firm noted, adding that, owing to its unique receptor profile, BTG6001 is also expected to show a superior side effect profile compared with current opiate analgesics. BTG plans to complete preclinical development and initiate Phase I clinical studies during 2008.