Acrux terminates Napa licence

Acrux DDS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Melbourne-based Acrux (ASX:ACR), has terminated an exclusive licence agreement it signed in May 2005 with US firm Napa Biosciences.

The agreement gave the newly-formed San Francisco bay area company rights to use Acrux's drug delivery technology in a number of dermatology products. Under the agreement, Napa was to develop and commercialise prescription products for fungal nail infection, acne, wound healing and baldness, plus over-the-counter products treating acne and pruritis, using Acrux's patented technology.

Napa needed to raise US$5 million in equity capital by October 6 for the licence grant to take effect.

"[Napa] didn't raise enough money in time, so there was a trigger in the agreement that we announced previously," said Acrux CEO and managing director Igor Gonda.

Gonda also said Acrux has discovered that it "can probably commercialise this better" than under the current agreement and the company is looking at other options for commercialising its technology in the dermatological area.

"We'd like to have this commercialised, but we just thought in the end that there were better opportunities," said Gonda. "I think we made the right decision."

In looking for other opportunities, Gonda said the products licensed "could just be the Napa portfolio, or we could package it in a bigger parcel for a commercial partner."

All intellectual property rights covered by the agreement remain which Acrux DDS.

US patent

Acrux has also been granted its seventh US patent, providing additional protection for the systemic delivery of anti-anxiety drugs.

Expiring in February 2017, the 'continuation in part' patent provides protection for transdermal drug delivery systems that consist of an effective amount of anti-anxiety agent, a dermal penetration enhancer, which is a safe skin-tolerant ester sunscreen, and a volatile liquid.

"The patent is in an important therapeutic area," said Gonda. "It's forming a stronger fence. We've got a very general patent and we're building fortresses."

"It's also a signal for potential partners in those areas that we've got the additional intellectual property to protect those products."