pSivida signs drug delivery licensing agreement with Faber Research

Australian bio-nanotech company pSivida has entered into a licensing agreement with US-based Faber Research to develop pSivida's proprietary Durasert, Zanisert and Co-Drug drug delivery technologies for infectious diseases and diseases of the ear.

Under the terms of the licence, Faber receives exclusive rights to pSivida's technologies for diseases of the ear and for five specific infectious diseases: malaria, HIV/AIDS, influenza, tuberculosis, and osteomyelitis. All costs of development will be born by Faber and its operating company Auritec Pharmaceuticals and pSivida will receive royalties and milestone payments.

In addition, pSivida has granted Faber co-exclusive rights to the Durasert, Zanisert and Co-Drug drug delivery technologies for other infectious diseases. Under this arrangement pSivida and Faber can elect to convert their co-exclusive rights to exclusive rights for a specific infectious disease indication(s).

pSivida's Durasert controlled release technology is already validated in that it forms the basis of the company's ophthalmic drug delivery products, Retisert, which is FDA approved, and Medidur, which is currently in Phase III clinical trials.

Auritec has developed novel approaches to extended release drug delivery with implications for indications including: HIV microbicides, the treatment of malaria and the prevention of pandemic influenza. Auritec also has an active programme for the delivery of drugs to the inner ear.

'We believe this represents a significant opportunity for our drug delivery technologies to be exploited in another therapeutic area - that of infectious diseases,' said Dr Roger Brimblecombe, chairman and ceo at pSivida.