Biohaven opts for Zydis delivery tech for anxiety pill
Biohaven used the Zydis orally disintegrating tablet technology to formulate a pill version of its glutamate modulating agent, BHV-0223, that disperses in the mouth in three seconds.
Catalent worked with Biohaven on the six month project which was focused on developing a formulation of the product ahead of a formal IND filing and the initiation of pharmacokinetic studies.
Robert Berman, Chief Medical Officer of Biohaven, said: "The license and formulation R&D collaboration with Catalent represents a key company milestone the optimization of a commercially viable formulation of BHV-0223 ready to advance into our clinical studies."
Biohaven – which is controlled by majority shareholder Portage Biotech – licensed intellectual property relating to the use of glutamate modulating agents in neuropsychiatric disorders from Yale University.
Zydis licensees
The firm joins a list of firms that have opted for Catalent’s technology, the most recent of which was Merck & Co which used it to develop a hay fever drug – Ragwitek – that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a year ago.
The Zydis technology is a freeze-dried oral solid dosage form that disperses instantly in the mouth, requiring no water, and according to Catalent, is used in over 20 products approved worldwide, including Eli Lilly’s bipolar drug Zyprexa.
