CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — DURECT Corporation
(Nasdaq: DRRX) announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
has accepted the New Drug Application (NDA) of REMOXY(R) and granted Priority
Review. The FDA typically grants Priority Review to drug candidates that have
the potential to demonstrate significant improvements compared to marketed
products. The FDA goal for completing review of a drug with Priority Review
status is six months from the date the application was submitted. The REMOXY
NDA was submitted to the FDA by Pain Therapeutics on June 10, 2008.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020717/DRRXLOGO)
“We are pleased that the NDA has been accepted and that REMOXY will
receive Priority Review,” stated James E. Brown, DVM, President and CEO of
DURECT. “The abuse of pain medications is a widespread problem in this
country and addressing that issue is clearly in the public interest. We’re
delighted that our ORADUR(TM) technology has enabled the development of
REMOXY, an investigational drug that has the potential to be the first
oxycodone on the market that deters common methods of abuse.”
REMOXY is being developed by Pain Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PTIE) under
license from DURECT, and Pain Therapeutics has, in turn, sublicensed the
commercialization rights for this drug candidate to King Pharmaceuticals
(NYSE: KG). REMOXY, an investigational drug, is a unique, abuse-resistant,
controlled release oxycodone for moderate-to-severe chronic pain.
About ORADUR(TM) Technology
ORADUR is a proprietary technology designed to transform short-acting oral
capsule dosage forms into sustained release oral products, with the added
benefit of being less prone to abuse (e.g. by crushing or water extraction)
than other controlled release dosage forms on the market today.
About DURECT Corporation
DURECT is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company developing
innovative drugs for pain and other chronic diseases, with late-stage
development programs including REMOXY(R), POSIDUR(TM), ELADUR(TM), and
TRANSDUR(TM)-Sufentanil. DURECT’s proprietary (oral, transdermal and
injectable depot) delivery technologies enable new indications and superior
clinical/commercial attributes such as abuse deterrence, improved convenience,
compliance, efficacy and safety for small molecule and biologic drugs. For
more information, please visit http://www.www.durect.com.
NOTE: ORADUR(TM), POSIDUR(TM), ELADUR(TM) and TRANSDUR(TM) are trademarks
of DURECT Corporation. Other referenced trademarks belong to their respective
owners. REMOXY, POSIDUR, ELADUR and TRANSDUR-Sufentanil are drug candidates
under development and have not been approved for commercialization by the US
Food and Drug Administration or other health authorities.
DURECT Forward-Looking Statement
The statements in this press release regarding REMOXY, its attributes, the
timing of FDA review of the NDA and its potential to be the first oxycodone on
the market that deters common methods of abuse are forward-looking statements
involving risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ
materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the potential that FDA may not
grant regulatory approval of REMOXY, difficulties or delays in the
development, testing, regulatory approval, production and commercialization of
REMOXY, and unexpected adverse side-effects or inadequate therapeutic efficacy
of REMOXY that could slow or prevent product approval or market acceptance
(including the risk that current and past results of clinical trials are not
necessarily indicative of future results of clinical trials). Further
information regarding these and other risks is included in DURECT’s Form 10-Q
dated August 8, 2008 under the heading “Risk Factors.”
SOURCE DURECT Corporation
08/12/2008
CONTACT: Matt Hogan, Chief Financial Officer of DURECT Corporation,
+1-408-777-4936
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Web site: http://www.www.durect.com