6 Mar 2015 07:00
6 March 2015
Midatech Pharma PLC
("Midatech", the "Company" or the "Group")
Research Collaboration Signed with Global Pharmaceutical Company
Midatech Pharma (AIM: MTPH), the international specialty pharmaceutical with a diversified portfolio of high-value assets, today announces the signature of a new research collaboration between MidaSol™ Therapeutics LP, a strategic joint venture between Midatech with MonoSol Rx LLC, and a major international pharmaceutical company (the "Partner").
Under the terms of the collaboration, MidaSol and the Partner will evaluate the preclinical effectiveness of MidaSol's gold-nanoparticle (GNP) and PharmaFilm® transbuccal (via the inside cheek) strip technologies for the needle-free delivery of an existing marketed diabetes drug for the Partner. The terms include an upfront payment, and several performance-driven milestones, details of which remain confidential. The project has a six-month term.
Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Jim Philips, CEO of Midatech Pharma, said: "This collaboration demonstrates the growing interest in the application of our GNP drug-conjugate technology with a range of therapeutic compounds for effective needle-free treatment. We aim to commercialise such products and ones in our own pipeline through partnerships and licensing opportunities and this agreement demonstrates the continuing successful implementation of our strategy."
Keith Kendall, CEO of MonoSol Rx, said: "The agreement we have signed with a major pharmaceutical company highlights the value of our joint venture with Midatech and the growing interest in needle-free products. We will now work alongside our new partner to progress this product through development with the goal of delivering it to diabetic patients around the world."
For more information, please contact:
Midatech Pharma plc
Jim Phillips, CEO
Tel: +44 (0)1235 841575
www.midatechpharma.com
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary Jane Elliott / Ivar Milligan / Matthew Neal / Hendrik Thys
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
midatech@consilium-comms.com
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7886 2500
Corporate Finance
Freddy Crossley / Adam James / Atholl Tweedie / Duncan Monteith
Broking
Tom Salvesen
About Midatech Pharma PLC
Midatech Pharma is a nanomedicine company developing and commercialising multiple therapeutic products to enhance the delivery of medicines in major diseases with high unmet medical needs. The Group has a strong pipeline of product candidates in clinical and pre-clinical development with a clear focus on the key therapeutic areas of diabetes, cancer and neurological/ophthalmological diseases.
Right place. Right time. Central to Midatech's business are two platform technologies that are designed to enable the targeted delivery and controlled release of existing drugs. Midatech's core platform is a pioneering drug conjugate delivery system based on gold-nanoparticles (GNPs) combined with existing drugs for targeted release at specific organs, cells or sites of disease. The Group's secondary platform (acquired through the acquisition of Q Chip in 2014) involves the consistent and precise encapsulation of active drug compounds within polymer microspheres that are designed to release the drug into the body in a highly controlled manner over a prolonged period of time.
The Group has collaborations with a number of speciality and major pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to develop its platform technologies across a broad range of programmes within Midatech's priority therapeutic areas. The business strategy is to expedite the pipeline developments into revenue opportunities.
Midatech operates an in-house state-of-the-art nanoparticle manufacturing facility, based in Bilbao, Spain. The site has capacity for manufacturing sufficient materials for clinical trials and is fully licensed by the Spanish Medicines Agency for European compliance.
The Group is headquartered in Oxford, UK and employs 49 staff including 14 in Oxford, UK, 17 in Cardiff, UK and 18 in Bilbao, Spain. Across the Group there are 32 qualified scientists. For further company information see: www.midatechgroup.com.
About MonoSol Rx
MonoSol Rx is a specialty pharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary PharmFilm® technology to develop products which address the unmet needs of patients. PharmFilm® is designed to benefit patients by improving the convenience, efficacy, and compliance of new and currently marketed drugs. The Company's leadership in film drug delivery is supported by strong intellectual property, a pipeline of prescription formulations based on PharmFilm® technology, and two FDA approvals - Zuplenz®, the first approved prescription oral soluble film for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced, radiotherapy-induced, and postoperative nausea and vomiting, and Suboxone® sublingual film, the first sublingual film product for the treatment of opioid dependence. For press releases and other company information visit www.monosolrx.com.