Helsinn's second-generation 5-HT3 RA Aloxi to expand in Asia via deal with Mundipharma

Switzerland's Helsinn Healthcare and Mundipharma International have signed a distribution and licensing agreement for the former's nausea product Aloxi (palonosetron) in Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

Aloxi is a second generation 5-HT3 receptor antagonist which demonstrated a long-lasting action in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) following therapy in patients with cancer. A single intravenous dose of palonosetron (0.25mg) provides better protection from CINV than first-generation 5-HT3 receptor antagonists.

The registration process is expected to start very soon and, after the recent launch in Japan, this new important accord opens new perspectives in other countries in the area, the Swiss firms said. Just last month, Helsinn signed a deal with the US subsidiary of Japanese drug major Eisai to develop and commercialize a fixed dosage form of Aloxi (in both oral and IV forms) containing netupitant, a neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor antagonistic, for the USA (The Pharma Letter June 10).