Article Posted: January 2008
In the October to December 2007 period, 92 deals involving drug delivery took place. These included two financially significant deals: between XenoPort and Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, and between Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings and Alexza Pharmaceuticals. Licensing deals were the most prevalent deal types, followed by co-development agreements. One manufacturing agreement also took place during this period, between Mumbai-based Cipla and US-based Akorn.
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Article Posted: October 2007
In August and September 2007, 64 drug delivery deals were recorded in PharmaDeals® Agreements, 28 of which occurred in August. Licensing deals were the most prolific of these, with 23 signed over the 2-month period. One of these is a deal between BioDelivery Sciences International (BDSI) and Meda (Deal no. 28232) for the marketing of BEMA™ Fentanyl in the US, Canada and Mexico. This patented product has a unique delivery system designed to deliver fentanyl for the treatment of breakthrough pain in cancer patients. BEMA™ Fentanyl consists of a small, dissolvable, polymer disc, formulated with the opioid narcotic fentanyl, for application to the buccal (inner lining of the cheek) membranes. This deal is worth US$90 M, and is the largest licensing deal in this period concerned. The US$90 M includes an upfront payment of US$30 M made by Meda to BDSI on closing of the deal, US$30 M payable on product approval by the US FDA, and US$30 M in sales milestones made to Meda. BDSI has since received the initial (upfront) non-refundable milestone payment of US$30 M. The companies will also collaborate on development for expanding the indication for BEMA™ Fentanyl.

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Article Posted: August 2007
In June and July 2007, 47 drug delivery-related deals were recorded in PharmaDeals Agreements®, 28 of which took place in July. The largest number of deal types was for licensing (14), closely followed by co-development (8). Two funding deals also took place. Nine of the 14 licensing deals involved start-up/emerging companies as the licensors and three were academic/research institutions. Two global and four established companies took part in drug delivery-related co-development deals. In terms of interest areas, anti-infective deals as a whole were most prominent, followed by neurology-related deals. Akorn, a manufacturer and marketer of sterile speciality pharmaceuticals, has signed the largest number of deals during these two months (3), and all of these require Akorn to market certain generics (Deal nos. 27550, 27828 and 27923) which have been manufactured by other companies.
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Article Posted: June 2007
In April and May 2007, there were 51 drug delivery deals in total recorded in PharmaDeals® Agreements; 23 in April and 28 in May. Approximately half of these involved a licensing deal. The biggest licensing drug delivery deal for April was between pSivida and Pfizer for pSivida's controlled drug delivery technologies for ophthalmic indications (Deal no. 26930). This includes the Medidun™ technology, which is a tiny, injectable device designed for the sustained release of drugs. Under the terms of the agreement, if pSivida meets certain development and sales milestones, it would be entitled to receive up to US$155 M from Pfizer. Another of April's major licensing deals was between Merck & Co. and the Coley Pharmaceutical Group and this was for the VaxImmune™, Coley's vaccine adjuvant for its incorporation into Merck's anti-infectious and Alzheimer's disease vaccines (Deal no. 26988). Coley received a US$4 M upfront payment from Merck and may receive up to US$33 M in milestone payments.
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Article Posted: April 2007
In March 2007, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 27 drug delivery deals, a sharp increase on February’s total figure of only 14. Of these 27 agreements, ten were made between start-up and established companies and nine were signed between fellow emerging companies. Only one global company (Sankyo of Daiichi Sankyo) participated in a drug delivery deal during March (Deal no. 26676), and the remaining deals featured academic and government organisations. As in most months, the majority of the transactions were licensing, technology access and/or co-development agreements. A wide range of technologies and interest areas were covered in March’s deals, including sprays, edible film, patches, ‘smart’ polymers and inhalers; a broad range of interest areas was also represented.
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Article Posted: March 2007
During February 2007, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 14 drug delivery deals, in contrast to January’s total of 34 transactions. Six of these deals were agreements between two start-up companies and four were between start-up and established businesses. Global organisations were involved in two deals and an academic institution in only one. The majority of deals were licensing and rights agreements, as well as those granting technology access. Ophthalmic conditions, HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, haemophilia and pain were amongst the indications covered by February’s deals.
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Article Posted: February 2007
During January 2007, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 34 drug delivery deals, continuing the high level of deal making activity that was seen at the end of 2006. Fourteen of these were transactions between two start-up companies but, also continuing a trend begun at the end of last year, established and global companies were more active than they had been throughout much of 2006. Global companies participated in three deals and medium-sized companies participated in 12. Academic and government bodies took part in five deals.
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Article Posted: January 2007
During December 2006, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 15 deals relating to drug delivery, nine lower than the number recorded for the previous month. Despite the fewer number of deals, a similar pattern to that seen in November was also seen in December. Global and established companies continued to be involved in a higher number of deals than they had been earlier in the year. Only three deals during December took place between start-up and emerging companies. By contrast, global companies were involved in six deals and established companies in five transactions. A result of this unusually high level of deal making activity by larger companies was that a number of deals had significantly high potential financial values. The majority of December’s deals involved licensing agreements.
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Article Posted: December 2006
During November 2006, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 24 deals relating to drug delivery, six more than the number recorded for the previous month. Although start-up and emerging companies were involved in 19 of these agreements, only 6 of these deals were made with fellow start-up companies: 3 transactions were made with academic institutions; 5 with established companies; and 5 with global companies. Unusually, in comparison with the previous 10 months, global organisations were involved in 7 deals. Established companies were also more active in drug delivery deal making during November than in recent months. A full range of deal types was represented in November, with licensing, rights and technology access agreements the most common. Several deals had high potential financial values, a fact which is, arguably, not surprising considering the size of some of the companies involved in November's drug delivery deals.
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Article Posted: November 2006
During October 2006, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 18 deals relating to drug delivery, seven more than the number recorded for the previous month. Agreements between start-up companies comprised the larger number of deals, seven in total, while three transactions were between start-up and established companies. Global companies were involved in two deals; academic institutions in four, and financial and government bodies in one each. Unusually, only one of the agreements was a co-development or collaborative deal; however, there were four business acquisitions and four licensing transactions. A range of interest areas were represented, with anti-infective and neurological deals most prolific in number (five and three respectively).
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Article Posted: October 2006
During September 2006, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 11 deals relating to drug delivery, continuing the year's irregular pattern. This was ten less than the number of drug delivery deals recorded for August. Unusually, only one of the 11 agreements featured two start-up and emerging companies; similarly only one deal involved two established companies; five deals were between established and start-up companies and four were between start-up companies and academic organisations. No global companies were involved in drug delivery deals in September. The types of deal varied considerably, as did the interest areas, ranging from anticancer and genitourinary products to surgical and medical devices. Two organisations were each involved in two deals during September: the National Cancer Institute (NCI, of the US NIH) and Cardinal Health.
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Article Posted: September 2006
During August 2006, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of 21 deals relating to drug delivery, 13 more than the total for the previous month. Eleven of the deals involved start up companies, five were between established and start up companies and 4 were between start up companies and academic bodies; one deal was made between two global companies. A wide range of deal types were represented, including manufacture and supply agreements, asset acquisitions, marketing and distributions deals, a joint venture and business acquisition. However, the largest number, 6 in total, were licensing agreements while a further 4 were co-development and collaborative transactions. Seven deals involved neurological drug delivery devices, while other main interest areas included respiratory, research and anti-cancer. Nanotechnology, inhalable devices, a cream, injectables and a toothpaste were among the numerous innovative drug delivery devices and technologies represented among August's deals.
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Article Posted: August 2006
During July 2006, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of only 8 deals relating to drug delivery, the lowest monthly total so far for 2006. Start-up companies featured in 7 deals; three of which were with established companies, and one each with a fellow start-up company, an academic body, a governmental organisation and a global company. Three of the 8 deals involved licensing agreements; three were co-development or collaborative R&D transactions; the remaining two were marketing and contract agreements. A range of interest areas were represented including immunological and sensory, genitourinary (2 deals), medical devices (2 deals), anti-infective and cardiovascular. Two deals involved start-up company Antares and another deal furthered the development of an innovative and improved anthrax vaccine.
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Article Posted: July 2006
During June 2006, PharmaDeals® Agreements recorded a total of only 18 deals relating to drug delivery, 13 fewer than the previous month. Six of these deals were between established and start-up companies and five were between two start-up companies; a further two involved global companies. By far the largest number of deals, 8 in total, comprised co-development or collaborative transactions; a further 4 were licensing agreements. Drug delivery technologies represented in June's deals include a nasal ointment, nanotechnology, a skin permeation device, a pill and sustained release and local delivery formulations. Five deals, however, focused upon oral and nasal sprays, inhalers and nebulisers, which could benefit patients with respiratory conditions and diabetes.
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Article Posted: June 2006
During May 2006, PharmaDeals Agreements recorded an unusually high number of deals relating to drug delivery, with a total of 31. Nine of these deals were between start-up and established companies while seven other deals were between two start-up companies. Only one global company participated in a drug delivery deal during May. A total of 13 transactions involved licensing and rights agreements as well as technology access. A further 7 deals focused upon co-development and collaborative R&D arrangements. The remaining deals comprised manufacture and supply, funding and distribution deals as well as two asset and product acquisitions and one business acquisition. A wide range of drug delivery technologies were the subject of May's deals, including time-release liquid technologies, inhalers, an electroporation device, transdermal skin patches, film technology, a melt-in-the-mouth tablet and chewing gum.
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Article Posted: May 2006
During April 2006, PharmaDeals Agreements recorded a relatively low number of deals relating to drug delivery, with a total of only 14. The majority of these deals were either between start-up and established companies (5 in total) or between two start-up companies (also 5 in total). Half of the deals were licensing agreements; the remaining 7 comprised collaborative, co-development, evaluation, co-promotion and marketing deals as well as one technology acquisition and one business acquisition. It is interesting to note that 4 of the 14 drug delivery deals recorded in April 2006 focused upon respiratory products while a further two involved the development of sprays for neurological conditions.
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Article Posted: April 2006
During March 2006, PharmaDeals Agreements recorded a relatively high number of deals relating to drug delivery, with a total of 24. The majority of these deals were either between start-up and established companies (11 in total) or between two start-up companies (7 in total). In addition to the usual relatively high number of collaborative R&D, licensing, rights and manufacture transactions, three mergers and business acquisitions were announced during March. Of note were five deals that focused upon delivering formulations intransally or through autoinjectors, three transactions involving anticancer products and an agreement to develop a transdermal patch to treat Alzheimer's disease.
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Article Posted: March 2006
During February 2006, PharmaDeals Agreements recorded 18 deals that related to drug delivery. The majority of the deals were either between two start-up companies (6 in total) or between an established and a start-up company (also 6 in total). These deals focused upon licensing, technology access, evaluation and funding, collaborative R&D and marketing agreements. A variety of drug delivery systems were represented in February's deals, including patches, a gel and liquid spray, an aerosol pump, vaccines, nasal powder and medical devices. Arguably, of most note during February 2006 were the five deals in which start-up and emerging companies agreed to work with US academic or government bodies in order to research and develop highly innovative and novel methods of drug delivery.
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Article Posted: February 2006
During January 2006, PharmaDeals Agreements recorded 20 deals that related to drug delivery. The majority of the deals involved transactions between start-up/emerging companies and focused upon licensing, rights and co-development agreements. Three deals involved global companies, including MedPharm's licensing evaluation agreement with an undisclosed international pharmaceutical company for its MedSpray™ technology. Other deals included Inovio Biomedical's agreement with Swedish-based Tripep to deliver a therapeutic vaccine for hepatitis C virus and Supernus Pharmaceuticals' acquisition of Shire Laboratories' product formulation and development assets.
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Article Posted: January 2006
During December 2005, PharmaDeals Agreements recorded 20 deals that related to drug delivery. These comprised the expected mix of business acquisitions, licensing agreements and co-development partnerships. The majority of the deals involved alliances between start-up/emerging companies, and had the aim of advancing innovative delivery technologies by applying them to a range of pharmaceutical products. However, three deals involved global companies, including Johnson & Johnson's agreement to acquire Animas through its subsidiary LifeScan. This deal gave LifeScan immediate entry into the fast-growing insulin delivery pump market.
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Article Posted: December 2005
During November 2005 a total of 25 deals were made in the drug delivery sector. These included a relatively high number of agreements relating to one particular class of technologies: those designed for transdermal drug delivery. These transactions centred upon a variety of products, including an insulin patch for diabetics and an ultrasonic skin-permeation device with a dengue vaccine. Also of note in November 2005 was a deal of great potential value between Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories.
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Article Posted: November 2005
During October PharmaDeals® Agreements has recorded 26 deals relating to drug delivery. A review of these deals shows that one of the largest headline values among these announcements was from the agreement between Syntonix and Boehringer Ingelheim, where the potential value of the deal is up to US$63 M (Deal no. 22096). The collaboration the companies entered into is to optimise certain Boehringer Ingelheim therapeutic peptides for inhalation using Syntonix.s SynFusion™ and Transceptor™ technologies.
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Article Posted: October 2005
It is interesting to note that of the seventeen drug delivery deals recorded in September, a large proportion relate to vaccine delivery. In order to combat infectious diseases such as Dengue Fever, two deals involve army research institutes and Cyto Pulse Sciences' Easy Vax® DNA vaccine delivery system. In this system, an electric field passes through hundreds of small needles, enabling the delivery of vaccine directly to the immune cells. Another deal relates to the development of a similar electroporation technology; this time directed against the HIV virus, while the US Department of Defence has agreed to fund Inovio Biomedical to develop this technology's potential to fight bioterrorism.
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Article Posted: September 2005
August was a relatively quiet time for the announcement of drug delivery deals. Nevertheless, a significant deal was announced relating to Nektar Therapeutics' acquisition of Aerogen, Inc. Aerogen's technology, an electronic micropump allowing the inhalation of liquids, will complement Nektar's powder technology and so enhance the capabilities of its acute care treatments, notably its inhaled insulin product for diabetes.
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