NPS Pharma expands deal with Nycomed for Preotact

Denmark's Nycomed and its partner NPS Pharmaceuticals of the USA have entered an agreement expanding and amending rights and responsibilities under the Preotact (full-length parathyroid hormone [PTH 1-84]) license originally entered into in 2004. The drug was approved by the European Commission in 2006 for the treatment of osteoporosis in menopausal women at high risk of fractures.

Under the new deal, Nycomed will gain the right to commercialize Preotact in all ex-US territories, excluding Japan, for which NPS retains commercial rights and Israel, which is the subject of a pre-existing distribution agreement with Neopharm.

Hakan Bjorklund, Nycomed's chief executive, said: "this expanded agreement allows Nycomed to fully leverage the commercial capabilities and infrastructure we gained through the acquisition of Altana Pharma. The early experience with Preotact in the European markets has been encouraging and we look forward to continuing to build our global presence with a product as therapeutically important as Preotact."