Norgine provides funding for Internis Pharmaceuticals

Norgine has provided debt financing of two million pounds to Internis Pharmaceuticals, a British start-up company with strong growth prospects.

The firm was founded in 2010 and last year launched FultiumD3, the first fully-licensed prescription vitamin D3 oral product for the NHS, which has proven to be a market-leading success.

Fultium offers safety and efficacy benefits over other similar over-the-counter drugs and has generated sales exceeding 2.3 million pounds in the last 12 months, helping Internis to outpace the current rate of market growth.

The funding from Norgine Ventures will help Internis to accelerate its new product development programme and expand its presence in the manufacturing of medicines aimed at preventing a range of common bone disorders.

Peter Stein, Norgine's chief executive officer, said: "We have been impressed by the Internis team, their strategy and the progress that they have made to develop and establish a strong position in the vitamin D3 prescription market."

This comes after Norgine received Scottish Medicines Consortium approval for its overt hepatic encephalopathy treatment Targaxan 550 earlier this month.