NEW YORK, NY, USA I November 25, 2019 I Woolsey Pharmaceuticals announced today that it completed a license agreement with Japanese pharmaceutical company Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, for rights to its drug, fasudil. The agreement grants Woolsey Pharmaceuticals the rights to develop and manufacture, and exclusive rights to commercialize any formulations (other than ophthalmic and injectable forms) of fasudil hydrochloride, a Rho-kinase inhibitor in the USA, Europe, and all other territories outside of Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan.

An injectable formulation of fasudil hydrochloride has been launched in Japan and China for the improvement of cerebral vasospasm and associated cerebral ischemic symptoms following surgery for subarachnoid hemorrhage. Woolsey intends to reformulate the drug into an oral medication and repurpose it for new indications, initially focusing on the treatment of rare, neurodegenerative diseases.

The agreement provides for an undisclosed upfront payment and development milestones as well as royalties and sales milestones.

ABOUT ASAHI KASEI PHARMA

Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a research-based health care innovator that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets pharmaceuticals and diagnostic products that address unmet medical needs. Asahi Kasei Pharma is a wholly owned business unit of Asahi Kasei Corporation, a US$19.5 billion company that provides innovative, science-based solutions to a diverse range of markets in the Material, Homes, and Health Care business sectors.

ABOUT WOOLSEY PHARMACEUTICALS

New York-based Woolsey Pharmaceuticals is reinventing ways to treat some of the world’s most challenging diseases. ​We don’t discover new drugs. Instead, we discover already-approved drugs that can be repurposed for other indications. This approach allows us to accelerate the delivery of medicines for the benefit of all humankind.

SOURCE: Woolsey Pharmaceuticals