SAINT-PREX, Switzerland -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Aché Laboratórios Farmacêuticos today announced a long-term collaboration aimed at improving the bioavailability, efficacy and safety profile of oral therapeutic medicines through nanotechnology. Potential benefits of research in this area include a reduction of adverse effects, increased patient adherence to treatment and more convenient dosing.

From 2017, a joint R&D centre and programme, named Nanotechnology Innovation Laboratory Enterprise (NILE), will be housed at Aché’s R&D centre in São Paulo, Brazil, funded by Ferring and Aché and governed by a joint steering committee.

The centre will explore nanotechnology as a delivery system for future medicines through programmes designed to match each company’s therapeutic needs. For Ferring, this means a focus on peptides and proteins in reproductive health, gastroenterology and urology. For Aché, it represents a strategic platform to accelerate new therapeutic entity developments addressing different technical needs in order to deliver better product solutions.

“Peptides and proteins delivered orally are challenged by their inherent poor bioavailability and stability in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to less predictive therapeutic effect,” said Alan Harris, Senior Vice President, R&D, Ferring Pharmaceuticals. “Our collaboration is focused on developing new nanotechnology-based pharmaceutical treatments to solve these challenges and better serve the needs of our patients.”

“Developing new therapeutic entities by improving drug delivery characteristics of existing molecules could help improve quality of life for patients all over the world,” said Paulo Nigro, CEO of Aché. “By collaborating along the R&D path in this exciting field, we will create a unique scientific environment able to tackle the main challenges in existing formulations and address unmet medical needs.”

The collaboration will be inaugurated with the first NILE International Nanotechnology Workshop, taking place in São Paulo from 1 - 2 December 2016 and featuring Brazilian and international nanotechnology experts from leading academic sites around the world.

ENDS

About Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is a branch of technology focused on understanding and controlling matter at the very smallest scales. At nanoscale, properties can be very different when compared to those with which we are familiar. Such radical new properties mean that nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionise current drug delivery technologies, and offers many opportunities to create revolutionary new drug delivery systems, formulations for poorly soluble drugs and novel devices. In addition to the potential advantages of enhancing systemic administration, nanoparticulate drug delivery systems can also be used for site-specific delivery, thus alleviating unwanted toxicity due to nonspecific distribution, helping to improve patient compliance and provide favourable clinical outcomes. Nanotechnology platforms will help in the development of advanced drug-delivery systems to decrease the failure rate of new active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), bio-therapeutic agents and vaccines caused by poor absorption, or distribution, significant drug toxicity, and rapid metabolism or excretion.

About Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Headquartered in Switzerland, Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group active in global markets. The company identifies, develops and markets innovative products in the areas of reproductive health, urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and orthopaedics. Ferring has its own operating subsidiaries in nearly 60 countries and markets its products in 110 countries. To learn more about Ferring or its products please visit www.ferring.com.

About Aché Laboratórios Farmacêuticos

Aché is a Brazilian company with 50 years of experience in the Latin American pharmaceutical market. Aché has four industrial production sites in Brazil and employees nearly 4,500 people. Half of them are focused on demand generation in the field offering a portfolio of more than 300 brands in nearly 800 submissions to meet the needs of healthcare professionals and consumers. Even though the core business is in the prescription medicines, Aché is also present in OTC, Generics, Skin Cosmetics and Nutraceuticals. In all, 130 therapeutic classes and more than 20 medical specialties are served. Recently, with the creation of Bionovis, it has began operating in Biotechnology field. Aché exports to 20 countries in Americas, Africa, Middle East and Japan. To know more about Aché, please visit www.ache.com.br.

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CONTACT:

Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Lindsey Rodger
Tel. +41 (0) 58 451 40 23
lindsey.rodger@ferring.com
or
Aché Laboratórios Farmacêuticos
CDI Public Relations
Deyvis Drusian Gomes
+ 55 (11) 3817-7994
deyvis@cdicom.com.br