Penwest Pharmaceuticals and Alvogen, Inc. have signed a drug development and commercialization agreement under which the two companies will work to identify and select as many as five compounds for generic development. Penwest may use its TIMERx technology for each compound selected and will formulate the compounds and receive development milestones and royalty payments. Alvogen will be responsible for manufacturing, clinical trials and regulatory filings for each of the formulations, as well as commercialization of the products worldwide.

Jennifer L. Good, Penwest’s president and chief executive officer, said, “We are very pleased to be partnering with Alvogen because of their record for successful product introductions within the generic pharmaceutical industry. This multi-drug, multi-national agreement allows Penwest to leverage its drug delivery technology for the formulation of generic drugs, an important segment of the market for extended release technology.”