Medeva/Mayo Deal On Nicotine For GI Disease

UK company Medeva has acquired an exclusive worldwide license to all rights under the pending patent filed by the USA's Mayo Clinic on the manufacture and use of all forms of nicotine in the treatment of gastointestinal disease. Through its Tillotts acquisition, Medeva has patented drug delivery technology for use in the treatment of lower GI diseases; the deal with the Mayo Clinic provides an extension to the company's development portfolio in this area.

Placebo-controlled studies in 138 patients have shown transdermal nicotine to be efficacious in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. However, whilst nicotine administered systemically via transdermal patches showed therapeutic benefit at high doses, it also gave rise to unacceptable side effects in some patients, such as nausea, irritability, sleep disturbance, tremor and skin irritations. Pilot studies have shown that nicotine complexed with carbomer produced only minimal adverse effects.