RedHill gets rights to promote capsules to gastroenterologists in certain U.S. territories

Israel-headquartered RedHill Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company focused on drugs for gastrointestinal and inflammatory diseases and cancer, has made a deal with ParaPRO, an Indiana-based pharmaceutical company, granting RedHill the exclusive rights to promote Esomeprazole Strontium Delayed-Release Capsules to gastroenterologists in certain U.S. territories.

Esomeprazole Strontium DR Capsules 49.3 mg is a prescription proton pump inhibitor (PPI) for adults for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), to reduce the risk of duodenal ulcer recurrence and for pathological hypersecretory conditions, including Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Esomeprazole Strontium DR Capsules 49.3 mg is a proprietary prescription drug approved by the FDA under a New Drug Application (NDA).

Craig Miller, RedHill’s VP U.S. Business Operations, Market Access, said: “RedHill’s U.S. commercial operations, headquartered in Raleigh, NC, include a gastrointestinal (GI)-focused sales force of 40 sales representatives promoting Donnatal and EnteraGam in select U.S. territories.

He added that RedHill is pursuing additional commercial opportunities in the specialty GI area to further expand its commercial presence in the U.S.

Patrick O’Shea, ParaPRO’s VP of Marketing, said that ParaPRO’s partnership with RedHill will generate a synergistic effort to commercialize the benefits of Esomeprazole Strontium DR Capsules 49.3 mg, and address the unmet need for therapeutic consistency we believe is sought by both healthcare practitioners and patients.

According to the agreement, RedHill is not required to make any upfront or milestone payments, and the parties will share the revenues generated from the promotion of Esomeprazole Strontium DR Capsules 49.3 mg by RedHill based on an agreed upon split between them. The initial term of the commercialization agreement is for three years. RedHill expects to initiate the U.S. promotion of the product in the coming weeks.

PPIs are one of the most commonly prescribed class of medications in the U.S., with an estimated market value exceeding $20 billion in 2016.

Donnatal is a prescription oral drug used with other drugs for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, and EnteraGam is a medical food intended for the dietary management of chronic diarrhea and loose stools which must be administered under medical supervision.