Cephalon to acquire North American Amrix rights

Italian drugmaker Eurand NV says that US biopharmaceutical firm Cephalon has signed an agreement to acquire North American rights to Amrix (cyclobenzapine HCl extended-release capsules) from fellow US company ECR Pharmaceuticals. The drug is a muscle relaxant developed by Eurand using its proprietary Diffucaps technology.

Eurand, as the licensor and exclusive manufacturer of the product, will now work with Cephalon to support the commercialization of the product in the USA, and will receive royalty payments based on sales. ECR obtained US approval of Amrix for short-term use as an adjunct to rest and physical therapy in the treatment of muscle spasm associated with acute, painful musculoskeletal conditions, earlier this year.

Gearoid Faherty, Eurand chief executive, said: "we would like to recognize the efforts of our partner, ECR, in obtaining regulatory approval for Amrix and look forward to working with Cephalon in commercialization of the product in the United States." Financial terms of the deal were not provided.