Sciele Pharma, Inc., a U.S.-based group of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., has entered an agreement to acquire and Addrenex Pharmaceuticals, a private, specialty pharmaceutical company, for approximately $29 million in cash.

Addrenex specializes in developing drugs that regulate the adrenergic system. Sciele previously licensed three products from Addrenex: Clonicel for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Jenloga XR for hypertension, and ADX-415 for the treatment of vasomotor systems and hypertension. The NDA for Clonicel was filed with the FDA in October 2009.

With the acquisition, Sciele will gain two additional mid-stage development products and access to a large library of compounds in various therapeutic areas, including pain management, cardiovascular, and dermatology.

Patrick Fourteau, president and chief executive officer of Sciele Pharma, said, “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Addrenex, a company we established a partnership with more than two years ago. Addrenex has an exciting development platform and several compounds that have the potential to further expand and diversify our product portfolio.”

Moise Khayrallah, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Addrenex, said, “Sciele Pharma has been a valuable partner and catalyst for the success of Addrenex. The partnership has enabled our team to expand the development pipeline and now gives Sciele access to a large portfolio of products that offer tremendous promise for patients and their families.”