Fipamezole is an adrenergic alpha-2 receptor antagonist in development for the treatment of dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease.
Santhera Pharmaceuticals is buying Finnish company OY Juvantia Pharma for its Parkinson’s disease therapeutic candidate, fipamezole (JP-1730). Santhera and Juvantia have been co-developing fipamezole since 2006, and Phase II development has been completed.
The 2006 agreement coincided with Santhera separately acquiring an option to purchase Juvantia. As part of the takeover, Santhera will issue up to 105,973 previously reserved shares from its authorized capital to Juvantia investors. Santhera’s share capital will comprise 3.63 million listed shares on closing of the transaction.
Fipamezole is an adrenergic alpha-2 receptor antagonist in development for the treatment of dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease. In June Santhera reported positive data from a Phase IIb study with the drug, which showed that fipamezole therapy reduced levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson’s patients.
The beneficial effect was not associated with a worsening of Parkinsonian features of the disease. The data additionally suggested that fipamezole reduces off-time episodes in patients and improves cognitive function as well as clinical global impression in dyskinesia. The compound was found to be safe and well tolerated.
