Toray Industries, Inc. (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President Akihiro Nikkaku; hereinafter referred to as “Toray”) and Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Daikichiro Kobayashi; hereinafter referred to as “Meiji”) today announced that the companies signed an exclusive license agreement on the orally disintegrating tablets formulation of antipruritic drug TRK-820 (Toray development code: generic name: nalfurafine hydrochloride) that is developed and manufactured by Toray (hereinafter referred to as the “Product”). Pursuant to the agreement, Meiji gains the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the Product in Thailand and Indonesia. In return, Meiji will pay initial payment and milestone payments corresponding to the progress of development to Toray.
TRK-820 is marketed as REMITCH®*1 Capsule 2.5µg and REMITCH® OD Tablet 2.5µg in Japan to improve pruritus in hemodialysis patients and patients with chronic liver disease (use only when sufficient efficacy is not obtained with the existing therapies or treatments).
In particular, REMITCH® OD Tablet can be administered both with and without water and is expected to contribute to improvement of medication compliance*2 of patients with deteriorating swallowing function such as senior citizens and those whose water intake is limited.
Meiji has consolidated subsidiaries Thai Meiji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in Thailand and PT. Meiji Indonesian Pharmaceutical Industries in Indonesia that serve as pharmaceutical product manufacturing and marketing bases, and it focuses on promotion especially of local sales expansion and enhancement of local presence in the ASEAN region as one of its growth strategy. At the same time, Toray aims to expand sales areas of TRK-820 and it believes that the agreement between the two companies will lead to maximization of the Product value.
Thailand has a large number of end-stage renal disease patients and it is one of the countries with high needs for hemodialysis treatment. Toray and Meiji expects to make significant contribution to easing pruritus of dialysis and chronic liver disease patients who till now not have access to effective treatment in Thailand and Indonesia.
Toray and Meiji will continue to strive to develop and spread better products for improvement of QOL (quality of life) of pruritus patients.
