Dealmakers

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Theramed Corp . (Mississauga, ON), a wholly owned subsidiary of Meta Health Services Inc. (Mississauga, ON), has entered into a sales and distribution agreement with Mississauga, Ont.-based AstraZeneca Canada Inc. The agreement covers AstraZeneca’s Plendil®, a calcium channel blocker used for the treatment of high blood pressure, and Rhinocort®, an anti-inflammatory steroid nasal spray used to treat hay fever and allergies. Under terms of the agreement, Theramed will use its sales force to promote and sell both products, while AstraZeneca will continue to lead all related medical information, regulatory affairs and drug safety activities.

A distribution agreement has been signed by Itochu International Inc.(Schaumburg, IL) and Performance Medical Devices, a division of Richmond, B.C.-based Medical Ventures Corp. The initial agreement involves exclusive distribution of Medical Ventures’ PeriPatch™ sheet — a surgical patch made from bovine pericardium — in the southeastern and western U.S. states. Provisions have been included to allow for the expansion of the initial sales territory as Itochu increases its health-care distribution and sub-distribution networks.

Isotechnika Inc. (Edmonton, AB) and Atrium Medical Corp. (Hudson, NH) have signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement covering use of Isotechnika’s TAFA93 and ISA247 compounds with Atrium’s drug-eluting devices. Under terms of the agreement, Atrium has exclusive rights to use the two compounds independently or in combination on medical devices for an unlimited number of applications. TAFA93 is a novel prodrug of the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin. mTOR inhibitors are currently used to prevent organ rejection in transplantation. ISA247 is an immunosuppressive compound being investigated for the treatment of psoriasis, as well as the prevention of organ rejection in renal transplant patients.

Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cincinnati, OH), a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Woodcliff Lake, NJ) has signed an exclusive licensing and distribution agreement with Montreal, Que.-based Paladin Labs Inc., allowing Paladin to seek approval for and market Duramed’s Seasonale® contraceptive. Seasonale is an extended cycle birth control pill that increases the typical 21-day dosing cycle to 84 days, plus seven days of placebos. Seasonale is currently approved and marketed in the U.S., where it was launched in 2003. Paladin already markets Duramed’s Plan B® emergency morning-after contraceptive.