Norwood in lucrative deal with US pharma

Norwood Abbey (ASX: NAL) has entered into a lucrative deal with TAP Pharmaceuticals, giving the US-based company an exclusive license to commercialise its immunology intellectual property in the US market.

TAP, a joint venture between Abbott Laboratories and Japanese company Takeda Chemical Industries, is the US market leader in GNrH analogues, through its US$850 million Lupron Depot products.

The deal revolves around the use of TAP's GNrH analogue Lupron to regenerate the thymus gland in patients receiving bone marrow transplants, with cancer or with HIV/AIDS. IN addition to commercialisation, TAP will participate in funding other R&D initiatives to look at using Lupron products in these and other areas.

Clinical trials are already underway to look at the use of GNrH analogues in patients undergoing bone marrow transplants in the US, UK and Australia, as well as in HIV/AIDS patients in Switzerland.

TAP will also be responsible for filing supplemental applications with the FDA for new indications for Lupron.

In return, Norwood will receive a US$2 million equity payment, as well as milestones payments and ultimately royalties.

"There are substantial numbers of patients undergoing these treatments," said Norwood's director of marketing Bernie Romanin. "These will be very substantial royalty payments, at the upper end of industry standards."

The company would now focus on looking for commercialisation partners for the rest of the world, he said.

Norwood chairman Peter Hansen said in a statement that TAP had always been the partner of choice for the company.

"This is an enormous step forward in the development of our immunology project and a resounding endorsement, by one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, of the strength of our intellectual property and scientific information in the immunology field," he said.

Romanin said that Norwood spin-off Norwood Immunology, which was formed to commercialise the immunology intellectual property, was likely to list on London's AIM board by the end of the first quarter in 2004.