Patheon contracted to make second drug by age-related diseases firm Biophytis
The contract – financial terms of which were not made public – will see Patheon scale up production of the drug – Macuneos (BIO201) – for planned Phase IIb trials in the US and Europe.
According to Biophytis the trial will involve 300 patients with intermediate dry form of AMD at twenty centres in Europe and ten in the US.
The drug has shown the ability to protect the retinal epithelium form degradation in animal models.
A Patheon spokeswoman told us "the manufacture of the clinical batches will be done at our site in Regensburg, Germany."
Biophytis has called on Patheon to support its trial programmes before.
Last September the French drug firm hired the contractor to produce a drug candidate called Sarconeos (Bio101) for Phase IIb trials.
The drug is an extract from the plant Stemmacantha carthamoides - also known as maral root. It is being developed to treat age-related muscle mass loss.