Helsinn Birex Pharmaceuticals Limited has been assigned certain international rights to Klean-Prep® by Helix BioPharma Corp.
Lugano, Switzerland (ots)
Helsinn Birex Pharmaceuticals Ltd, has been assigned world-wide rights, title and interest in Klean-Prep®, excluding Canada, and an exclusive license for the U.S.
Helsinn, a pharmaceutical group based in Lugano, Switzerland today announced that it has entered into an agreement and has been assigned by Helix BioPharma Corp., world-wide rights, title and interest, excluding Canada, and an exclusive license for the US for Klean-Prep®, a pre-treatment for colon examination in colorectal cancer screening. Helsinn currently has a royalty-bearing license from Helix to sell Klean-Prep® world-wide, excluding the U.S. and Canada. Helix will retain the Canadian rights to Klean-Prep®. Helsinn and Helix have entered into a new supply agreement for Helsinn to supply Klean-Prep® to Helix with terms extending over a ten year period, subject to certain performance conditions. "We are delighted to have signed this agreement with Helix for Klean- Prep®, an important product, first launched in 1987", said Dr. Riccardo Braglia, Helsinn group's CEO, "and are pleased to strengthen our efforts to offering our network of partners, covering 85 countries world-wide, products which meet the medical community needs and which have a strong positive impact on patients' quality of life".
About Klean-Prep®
Klean-Prep® is a modern specialist product for the preparation of the colon prior to colonoscopy and X-ray examinations. Klean-Prep® is a balanced mixture of polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG 3350) and electrolytes which, added to water, produces a clear, colourless, iso-osmotic solution. It acts as a bowel cleansing agent and allows a total cleansing in 4 to 6 hours. Klean-Prep® can be taken at home and thus reduces hospitalization and nursing time, it has a high cleansing success rate (95%) and is very well tolerated. Klean-Prep® has achieved excellent sales performances and it is among the leaders in bowel cleansing preparations, thanks to the top- quality characteristic of the product combined with partnerships with companies well introduced in hospitals and diagnostic centres. Klean-Prep® is the only product of its class which provides patients with a most useful and easy-to-use shaker for the preparation and intake of the solution.
About the Helsinn Group
Helsinn is a privately owned pharmaceutical group with headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland and subsidiaries in Ireland and USA. Helsinn's unique business model is focused on the licensing of pharmaceuticals and medical devices in therapeutic niche areas. The Group in-licenses early to late stage new chemical entities, completes their development from the performance of pre- clinical/clinical studies and Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) development, to the filing for and attainment of their market approval worldwide. Helsinn's products are sold directly, through the Group subsidiaries, or alternatively out-licensed to its network of local marketing and commercial partners, selected for their deep in-market knowledge and know-how, and assisted and supported with a full range of product and scientific management services, including commercial, regulatory, financial, legal and medical marketing advice. The active pharmaceutical ingredients and the finished dosage forms are manufactured at Helsinn's cGMP facilities in Switzerland and Ireland, and supplied worldwide to its customers. Helsinn, with a workforce of around 450 employees in Switzerland, Ireland and USA, reported a 2009 turnover of over CHF 305.0 million (about EUR 232.0 million at the current conversion exchange rate), covering 85 countries worldwide, with over 20% of this turnover invested in R&D. For more information on the Helsinn Group please visit the website www.helsinn.com
Contact:
Helsinn Healthcare SA
Paola Bonvicini
Head of Communication & Press Office
Tel: +41/91/985'21'21
E-Mail: info-hhc@helsinn.com