LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Hikma Pharmaceuticals announced the signing of an exclusive license agreement to commercialise cariprazine - a novel antipsychotic - in certain Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets on Thursday.
The FTSE 250 pharmaceuticals company said under the terms of the agreement, its partner Richter would be responsible for product supply, while Hikma itself would proceed with the registration and commercialisation of the product in the Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Syria and United Arab Emirates markets.

"We are very pleased to form a partnership with Richter, adding a novel product to our portfolio in a key therapeutic area," said Mazen Darwazah, Hikma's executive vice-chairman and president of MENA.

"CNS disorders are becoming more prevalent across the MENA and this partnership enables us to meet the needs of a growing number of patients."

Hikma said that according to IQVIA, sales for atypical antipsychotics in those markets totalled $153m for the 12 months ended March.

Richter would receive an upfront payment from Hikma.

In addition, Richter would be entitled to sales-related milestone payments on achievement of certain targets.

"We consider this recent partnership agreement as a further step to achieve a global presence of cariprazine in the treatment of patients suffering from schizophrenia," said Richter chief executive officer Gábor Orbán.

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