Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ arm Taro Pharmaceuticals North America Inc, has inked an exclusive agreement with the Aberdeen-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, NovaBiotics to licence and co-develop Novexatin, the company’s first-in-class antifungal peptide treatment for fungal nail infections.

Novexatin is an investigational drug that is expected to enter a multi-centre phase IIb study for mild-to-moderate onychomycosis in the US. NovaBiotics and Taro, both will jointly manage the study and other development activities for Novexatin, with Taro being the lead partner in the programme.

Novexatin is used for treatment of fungal nail infections (onychomycosis). The active pharmaceutical agent of this medicinal candidate is NovaBiotics’ novel, patented antifungal peptide, NP213, which was developed specifically as a safe, fast-acting nail penetrating fungicidal molecule from the company’s proprietary antimicrobial peptide platform.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is an international, integrated, specialty pharmaceutical company. It manufactures and markets a large basket of pharmaceutical formulations as branded generics as well as generics in India, US and several other markets across the world.