CoTherix licenses Asahi's fasudil

US biopharmaceutical company CoTherix and Japan's Asahi Kasei Pharma say they have agreed a licensing deal which grants the US firm exclusive rights, in North America and Europe, to develop and commercialize oral formulations of fasudil, Asahi's treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. CoTherix said it had also acquired exclusive rights to develop the drug, which is a rho-kinase inhibitor, as a treatment for stable angina.

Under the terms of the deal, CoTherix will make an upfront payment of $8.75 million to its Japanese partner, in addition to agreed development milestones and royalties on future product sales. The companies added that the license does not extend to the development of the drug for use in stroke and eye disease indications. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.