PATTERSON, N.Y., Jan. 25, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. (Nasdaq:PPCO) today announced that it has signed its fourth research and development agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. of Japan for Penwest to develop a formulation of an undisclosed Otsuka compound utilizing Penwest's TIMERx® drug delivery technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Penwest will receive undisclosed fees and payments.
Jennifer L. Good, Penwest's President and CEO, said, "We are very pleased to have signed another research and development agreement with Otsuka. Otsuka is an important customer for us, and our scientific team will continue to work closely with them to successfully formulate their compounds."
Penwest announced its first agreement with Otsuka in September 2007, the second in November 2008 and a third in June 2009. The Company also announced in October 2009 that one of the formulations from the first agreement demonstrated proof-of-principal in a Phase I trial conducted by Otsuka. Penwest received a financial payment for successfully achieving this milestone.
About Penwest Pharmaceuticals
Penwest is a drug development company focused on identifying and developing products that address unmet medical needs, primarily for rare disorders of the nervous system. Penwest is currently developing A0001, or alpha tocopherol quinone, a coenzyme Q10 analog demonstrated to improve mitochondrial function in-vitro. Penwest is also applying its drug delivery technologies and drug formulation expertise to the formulation of our collaborators' product candidates under licensing collaborations.
About Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1964, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a global healthcare company with the corporate philosophy: 'Otsuka -- people creating new products for better health worldwide.' Otsuka researches, develops, manufactures and markets innovative and original products, with a focus on pharmaceutical products for the treatment of diseases and consumer products for the maintenance of everyday health. Otsuka is committed to being a corporation that creates global value, adhering to the high ethical standards required of a company involved in human health and life, maintaining a dynamic corporate culture, and working in harmony with local communities and the natural environment.
For additional information, please visit www.otsuka-global.com.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd., the holding company for the Otsuka Group. The Otsuka Group comprises 153 companies and employs approximately 36,000 people in 23 countries and regions worldwide. Otsuka and its consolidated subsidiaries earned ¥955.9 billion (approx. US $9.7 billion*) in annual revenues in fiscal 2008.
* Exchange rate as of March 31, 2009.
Penwest Forward-Looking Statements
The matters discussed herein contain forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause the actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance suggested herein. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words, "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "potential," "appears," "estimates," "projects," "targets," "may," "could," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: risks relating to the commercial success of Opana ER, including our reliance on Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the commercial success of Opana ER and risks of generic competition; the need for capital; regulatory risks relating to drugs in development, including the timing and outcome of regulatory submissions and regulatory actions with respect to A0001; uncertainty of success of collaborations; the timing of clinical trials; whether the results of clinical trials will be indicative of the results of future clinical trials and will warrant further clinical trials, warrant submission of an application for regulatory approval of, or warrant the regulatory approval of, the product that is the subject of the trial; whether the patents and patent applications owned by us will protect the Company's products and technology; actual and potential competition; and other risks as set forth under the caption Risk Factors in Penwest's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 2009, which risk factors are incorporated herein by reference.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of the statements made. Penwest disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and these statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates or views as of any date subsequent to the date of this release.
TIMERx is a registered trademark of Penwest. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.