Hovione and Merrion Pharmaceuticals have entered a strategic partnership for the use of Merrion’s GIPET absorption enhancing technology by Hovione clients. The companies have established a relationship on technical issues relating to GIPET manufacture and will collaborate on the feasibility assessment of GIPET with development compounds introduced by third parties. Hovione will leverage its international manufacturing capability to supply new products from clinical trials to commercialization.
 
Merrion’s chief executive officer, Dr. John Fox, said, “I am delighted that Merrion Pharmaceuticals is working with a partner of such scale and reputation. Merrion and Hovione represent complementary offerings to companies seeking to develop tablet versions of compounds that otherwise may have been administered by injection or never reached patients at all.”
 
“We are very pleased to announce this collaboration with Merrion Pharmaceuticals, which extends our current expertise and capabilities in improving solubility of oral drugs by addressing the permeability limitations of BCS classes III and IV drugs. This adds value to our customers and benefits the patients. This agreement reinforces our strategy of combining strengths with other innovative companies like Merrion, to create better medicines,” said Dave Hoffman, Hovione’s vice president of sales and business development.