Acrux, an Australian company offering technologies for delivering drugs across the skin, announced an agreement with the New York-based Population Council Inc. The agreement reportedly enables Acrux to progress toward commercialization of a unique contraceptive spray, containing the contraceptive drug Nestorone.
Under the agreement, Acrux has a worldwide license from the Population Council to intellectual property covering the use of the drug with its patented metered-dose skin spray delivery technology (MDTS). The company will develop and commercialize the drug in its delivery system and has the right to sub-license to commercial partners.
In addition to commercial distribution of the product, the company (or its sub-licensees) will make the product available at reduced prices to public sector organizations providing human reproductive health products to disadvantaged people.
"This exciting product will give women a very attractive new option for contraception. It combines our unique technology with the know-how of one of the world's leading developers of reproductive health products," said Acrux CEO Igor Gonda, in a press statement. "The target features of Nestorone MDTS are: a convenient daily spray onto the arm that is more discreet and less irritating to the skin than a patch, and we believe, will prove to have a better safety profile than other hormonal contraceptives.”
Gonda added that market research has shown that many women will prefer the ease and convenience of the spray method to swallowing pills, taking injections, or wearing patches. Acrux is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing a range of patented, patient-preferred health care products for global markets, using its innovative technology to administer drugs through the skin.
