Patheon To Manufacture Pharmalink Drug

Pharmalink AB, a Swedish specialty pharma company, has entered into a contract with Patheon for the manufacture of Nefecon, Pharmalink’s lead product. Nefecon is being developed as the first on-label medication aimed at addressing the underlying pathology of progressive IgA nephropathy, the most common form of primary glomerulonephritis and a leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Nefecon was granted an orphan drug designation by the FDA. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Johan Häggblad, managing director of Pharmalink, said, “Despite the increasing recognition of IgA nephropathy as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, no specific medications have been developed and introduced to the market. In that context, our development programme for Nefecon is seen as one of the most significant in IgA nephropathy clinical research. We have already shown positive results in an open-labelled Phase II trial evaluating Nefecon’s safety and efficacy and, with Patheon, we will be working with one of the pharmaceutical industry’s best-respected manufacturers as Nefecon advances towards pivotal trials.”

Nefecon is delivered using the TARGIT drug delivery technology, which enables the localized delivery of drugs to the lower small intestine or colonic regions of the gastrointestinal tract. Pharmalink has an exclusive license to the technology for the development of Nefecon from Archimedes Pharma.