Overview
Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery, development and marketing of innovative pharmaceutical products for the treatment of orphan neuromuscular diseases. Santhera currently has three compounds in seven clinical-stage development programs.
Santhera's vision is to become a leading specialty pharmaceutical company offering therapies for a number of indications in this area of high unmet medical need which includes many orphan indications with no current therapy.
Santhera's first product, CatenaŽ has received a marketing approval from Health Canada to treat Friedreich's Ataxia and was launched in October 2008. CatenaŽ/SovrimaŽ has also shown efficacy as a potential treatment in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. A pivotal Phase III trial is currently running in Europe and the US in this indication. CatenaŽ has also recently been shown to imporve the vision of patients with Lebers Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) . Regulatory submissions for this indication are planned for 2011. CatenaŽ is furthermore investigated in MELAS and Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Santhera has partnered European commercialization rights for CatenaŽ/SovrimaŽ in Friedreich's Ataxia and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy to Takeda.
Santhera's second core program is fipamezole for the treatment of Dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease. The confirmatory Phase IIb FJORD study reported positive data and showed that fipamezole reduces levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's patients. Santhera has partnered US and Canadian development and commercialization rights to Biovail.
The third compound omigapil was in-licensed from Novartis for the clininal development program comprises in Congenital Muscular Dystrophies.