Helsinn and Pfizer Laboratories (PTY) LTD sign a License Agreement for the marketing of Aloxi® in South Africa
Lugano/Johannesburg (ots)
HELSINN HEALTHCARE SA, and PFIZER LABORATORIES (PTY) LTD, announce the signing of an agreement granting PFIZER in South Africa, the exclusive license and distribution rights of Aloxi® (Palonosetron hydrochloride), a therapy for the prevention of nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy. Aloxi® will be launched in South Africa under the trade name Onicit®.
Aloxi® is a potent and long-lasting antiemetic belonging to the second generation of serotonin (5-HT3) antagonists, the leading class for the prevention of nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy. Aloxi(r) showed a great efficacy during the acute and delayed phase after chemotherapy treatment as compared to other first generation 5-HT3 antagonists. The product is already commercialised in the US, where over three million treatments have been completed successfully. Aloxi® is currently on the market in some European countries, as well as in several countries in Latin America where the tradename is Onicit®.
In 2004, the US National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines indicated Aloxi(r) as the treatment of choice for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting due to moderately emetogenic chemotherapies.
"Helsinn is enthusiastic of entering this new collaboration with PFIZER, said Dr. Riccardo Braglia, Managing Director of HELSINN HEALTHCARE. "PFIZER is a leading company in the South African pharmaceutical market, which we believe will successfully introduce our product to the medical community in this region and allow the patients suffering from Nausea and Vomiting induced by chemotherapy, to benefit from an innovative antiemetic like Aloxi®".
Richard Paulson, Country manager and CEO of Pfizer South Africa said, "We look forward to making Onicit® available to patients in South Africa to improve the management of chemotherapy. As the first true supportive care product in this range, Pfizer holds high expectations for Onicit®, particularly given its' therapeutic advantages over current treatment options."
About Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV)
CINV is estimated to affect 85% of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and can result in a delay or discontinuation of chemotherapy treatments. The supportive care area is becoming of paramount importance to help patients deal with adverse events of anticancer therapies. With good supportive care drugs, cancer patients are able to tolerate the anti-cancer treatment to a greater extent, improving their chances of completing their treatment course successfully with a better quality of life.
About Aloxi®
Aloxi(r) is a selective 5-HT3-receptor antagonist, developed for the prevention of CINV, with a long half-life of 40 hours and at least 30 times higher receptor binding affinity than currently available compounds. Since its availability in USA in September 2003, there are over 3 million successful uses of Aloxi®. The product showed to be effective in preventing both acute and delayed CINV in patients receiving emetogenic chemotherapies. For more information about this product please visit our website: www.palonosetron.net and www.aloxi.com.
About HELSINN HEALTHCARE
HELSINN HEALTHCARE SA is a privately owned pharmaceutical group with headquarters in Switzerland and is the worldwide licensor of Aloxi®. HELSINN's core business is the licensing of pharmaceuticals in niche therapeutic areas.
The company's business strategy is to in-license early-stage new chemical entities and complete their development from the performance of pre-clinical/clinical studies and CMC development to the attainment of market approvals in strategic markets (U.S. and Europe). HELSINN's products are eventually out-licensed to its marketing partners for distribution. The active pharmaceutical ingredients and the finished dosage forms are manufactured at HELSINN's cGMP facilities and supplied worldwide to its customers. For more information about HELSINN, please visit www.helsinn.com.
About PFIZER LABORATORIES PTY (LTD)
Pfizer Laboratories Pty (Ltd) is the South African subisidiary of Pfizer Inc. Pfizer is committed to helping people improve their health by discovering and developing medicines, as well as informing consumers and health care providers about our medicines and the medical conditions they treat. Through multiple initiatives, Pfizer aims to ensure access to treatments and educate, empower and motivate consumers to take the necessary steps to lead longer, healthier, happier lives.
ots Orginaltext: Helsinn Internet: wwww.presseportal.ch
Contact:
Contact person at HELSINN, Switzerland
Rachid BenHamza, Ph.D.
Head Business Unit Oncology & Supportive Care
Tel: +41/91/985'21'21
E-Mail: info-hhc@helsinn.com
Contacts at PFIZER, South Africa
Duncan Norman
Commercial director: Speciality, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Ltd
Tel: (+2711)320-6094
E-Mail: duncan.norman@pfizer.com
Dr Nirvana Raghubir
Medical director, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Ltd
Tel: (+2711) 320-6084
E-Mail: nirvana.raghubir@pfizer.com
Tanya-Lisa Elston
Communications, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Ltd
Tel: (+2711)320-6151
E-Mail: tanya.elston@pfizer.com