Hikma And Richter Partner On Cariprazine In MENA Markets
Executive Summary
Hikma and Richter enter into an agreement to supply and commercialise cariprazine, an antipsychotic treatment for patients suffering from schizophrenia, in 14 MENA markets.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Gedeon Richter have announced an exclusive licensing agreement to commercialize cariprazine, an antipsychotic treatment for patients suffering from schizophrenia. The partnership targets certain Middle East and North African (MENA) markets.
Headquartered in the UK, Hikma said that under the terms of the agreement “Richter will be responsible for product supply and Hikma will proceed with the registration and commercialization of the product in the following markets: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and United Arab Emirates.”
Mazen Darwazah, Hikma’s executive vice chairman and president for the MENA region, said “we are very pleased to form a partnership with Richter, adding a novel product to our portfolio in a key therapeutic area. Central nervous system disorders are becoming more prevalent across the MENA and this partnership enables us to meet the needs of a growing number of patients.”
Market Researcher IQVIA said that “sales for atypical antipsychotics in these markets were $153m for the 12 months ended March 2019.”
Disclosing the details of the agreement, Hikma said “Richter will receive from Hikma an upfront payment.” In addition, Richter will be entitled to “sales-related milestone payments on achievement of certain targets.”
Gábor Orbán, CEO of Richter said “we consider this recent partnership agreement a step further in achieving a global presence of cariprazine in the treatment of patients suffering from schizophrenia”.
Cariprazine In US And European Markets
Cariprazine, which was discovered by Budapest-based Richter, was licensed out to Allergan in the US. Cariprazine is an oral atypical antipsychotic approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults and for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.
“Apart from having been available on the US market for more than three years, cariprazine is also approved in the EU for schizophrenia indication and has already been marketed in 15 European countries,” Hikma said.
While Richter markets the molecule on its own in central-eastern Europe, western European marketing rights were licensed to Recordati and other license agreements have been signed with further local partners to ensure that cariprazine would be a treatment option to many patients globally suffering from these debilitating diseases.