Orion to Receive Milestone Payment from Pharmacia Under Deramciclane Collaboration Agreement

Orion Pharma announced today that it will receive a milestone payment of USD five million from Pharmacia Corporation in connection with the ongoing collaboration between the two companies for the development of deramciclane for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The milestone payment will be made in the fourth quarter of 2002.

 

Deramciclane is in Phase III clinical development in Europe and the United States. The results of the European arm of the studies have been evaluated by Orion and reported to Pharmacia. Full Phase III results will be available in early 2003 upon completion of the U.S. arm of the deramciclane studies.

 

Deramciclane, which is an investigational drug in the research pipeline of Orion Pharma, is a new chemical entity (NCE) that uniquely binds to 5-HT2a and 5-HT2b serotonin receptors in the brain.  Other pharmaceutical compounds with the same mechanism of action are not known to be studied.  The originator of deramciclane is Egis Pharmaceuticals, a Hungarian company from which Orion Pharma has licensed the compound in the preclinical stage.

 

  

 

Dr. Risto Miettunen, President, Orion Pharma, phone +358 10 429 4299, gsm +358 50 429 4299.

 

 

 

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