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ImaRx Therapeutics
ImaRx Therapeutics, Inc. has signed an agreement with Elan Corporation, plc to form a research joint venture to develop and commercialise HydroPlex drug delivery technology for an oncology product.
As part of the agreement, Elan has made an equity investment in ImaRx and provided a credit facility to facilitate funding of the joint venture. ImaRx initially will be the majority owner of the joint venture.
ImaRx's HydroPlex drug delivery system wraps non-water soluble drugs by polymer strands, making the drugs more water soluble, easier to administer and less toxic. ImaRx also has developed energy activated delivery systems uses ultrasound to help release drug payloads from ImaRx's patented microscopic 'smart bubbles' precisely to the site in the body where the drugs are needed. The ImaRx team has a decade-long successful history in the biotechnology field and the company is transitioning from R&D to the development of proprietary production. The joint venture collaboration with Elan will speed the development of work already underway at ImaRx.
Evan Unger, MD, chairman and CEO of ImaRx, said, "This long-term joint venture brings together ImaRx, an acknowledged leader in drug delivery technology and in energy activated delivery systems, and Elan, the industry leader in oral drug delivery technology, with the shared goal of accelerating the development and commercialisation of the ImaRx HydroPlex technology in the field of oncology. With Elan, we now have the technical and financial resources to further advance the development of delivery systems that will revolutionize the way certain diseases are treated."
Dr. Larry Sternson, President of Elan Pharmaceutical Technologies, said, "We are pleased with the opportunity to invest in, and collaborate with, ImaRx. We look forward to working with a highly innovative company like ImaRx that has a leading position in energy-activated and passive drug delivery systems. This collaboration is consistent with Elan's long-term strategy of building multiple alliances with strong emerging technology companies."
ImaRx Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company organized in January 2000 to apply the tools of biotechnology to the development of sophisticated proprietary drug delivery systems and gene therapy technologies. |
