Elan ‘pleased’ with Johnson and Johnson filing

Elan has announced that Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development has submitted a regulatory filing for paliperidone palmitate.

This atypical antipsychotic intramuscular injection for the treatment of schizophrenia uses NanoCrystal technology from Elan.

According to the terms of the agreement between the firms, Elan receives milestone payments upon the attainment of certain landmarks, in addition to a royalty on any future sales of the drug.

NanoCrystal technology is used in the treatment to enhance the rate of dissolution of the paliperidone palmitate compound, which is poorly water soluble. It facilitates the formulation of an aqueous suspension of the drug for administration once a month.

Shane Cooke, chief financial officer and head of drug technologies at Elan, said: “This is the first long acting injectable product developed and submitted to a health authority using Elan’s NanoCrystal technology and marks a significant milestone in the advancement of the technology.”

He added that the company is pleased to see the application with the regulatory authorities in the US and is anticipating a successful launch of the product worldwide.

In June 2007, Janssen-Cilag announced plans to market Invega (paliperidone prolonged release tablets) as a treatment for schizophrenia following the receipt of marketing approval from the European Medicines Agency.