LEO Pharma Initiates Global Search for New Partners

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• Publié par: leo-pharma
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• Langue: English

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LEO Pharma Initiates Global Search for New

Partners

PR Newswire

BALLERUP, Denmark, June 14, 2012

BALLERUP,

Denmark

,

June 14, 2012

/PRNewswire/ --

LEO Pharma is now actively searching for new global

or territorial partners to deliver promising new

compounds for its dermatology-focused pipeline.

Corporate VP hopes to sign two or more new deals

before the end of 2012.

After successfully gaining FDA approval in April for Picato®, a novel treatment

for solar keratoses, LEO Pharma has initiated a global search for new partners

within dermatology.

"Last year, we changed our R&D focus to concentrate solely on dermatology.

We are now a dermatology company, and we're searching for partners and

opportunities to strengthen that position," says Kristian Lykke Fick, who is

spearheading the partner search as Corporate Vice President of Corporate

Business Development. He says that LEO Pharma last year spent

EUR 141m

on

Research & Development, close to 15 percent of the company's revenue.

This year, LEO Pharma entered its first multi-million-dollar collaboration in

January by signing an in-licensing deal with U.S. biotech company Virobay Inc.

to develop an oral treatment for psoriasis.

When searching the globe for new partners, LEO Pharma focuses equally on

existing and new therapeutic areas. The company currently has products

indicated for psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, eczema and solar keratoses.

"Basically, any opportunity within prescription dermatology with a sales

potential above

EUR 75m

has our interest. We seek early- and late-stage

compounds as well as new delivery systems. Besides our current therapeutic

focus, we'll be looking for drug candidates targeted at, for example, acne,

rosacea, vitiligo, skin cancer and orphan skin diseases," says Kristian Lykke Fick

and continues:

"We typically consider 500 opportunities annually, of which we find 100

interesting enough for further dialogue. In the end, we move about 10 of them

to due diligence. I hope we'll find a handful of these most promising candidates

at this year's BIO convention. If everything works out well, we can sign another

two to three significant deals this year."

LEO Pharma has more than 5,000 employees in 61 countries with total revenue

of

EUR 1,039m

in 2011. This makes it the third-largest pharmaceutical

company in

Denmark

, preceded only by H. Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk. The

BIO International Convention will be held

June 18-21

in

Boston

and is the largest

global partnering event for the biotechnology industry with more than 15,000

participants.

Link to fact sheet about LEO Pharma

Contact:

Kristian Lykke Fick, Corporate Vice President, Corporate Business Development,

Mobile: [phone], E-mail: [e-mail]