LIONVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 24)—West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. has a new co-development and commercialization agreement with Swedish specialty pharmaceutical company Pharmalink A.B., the Lionville-based firm announced Feb. 23.
Together the companies will develop West's Targit-brand oral drug delivery system with Nefecon, a Pharmalink product candidate for the treatment of IgA-nephropathy, a disorder involving the inflammation of the kidney's filtering units which often ends in kidney failure.
Upon achieving certain performance criteria, West and Pharmalink will pursue product commercialization through third-party marketing partners, West said. Product formulation work has commenced.
West's Targit system targets drugs for release within the terminal ileum or the colon, the company said. The system uses a combination of enteric polymer coatings on starch capsules, which can be filled with a variety of formulations, including powders, granules, semi-solids, coated microspheres and tablets.