The partnership, financial terms of which have not been released, will aim to develop a series of new excipients based on the PanExcea MCC333G product for a range of pharmaceutical applications, including oral solid dosage forms which are a Rubicon specialty.
Speaking about the new deal, Paul Smaltz vice president of global marketing at Mallinckrodt said: “Rubicon Research’s industry-leading expertise in formulation and drug delivery technology will assist us in providing leading-edge products that enable faster, more cost efficient drug development and manufacturing.”
Mallinckrodt declined to comment further on the deal when asked by in-PharmaTechnologist.
Pratibha Pilgaonkar, CEO at contract research organisation (CRO) Rubicon, said that the deal will provide a significant boost for its research efforts in the area of performance excipients for the drug industry. Pilgaonkar went on to say that Mallinckrodt Baker’s understanding of the global pharmaceutical market will also be of considerable benefit.
With drugmakers worldwide seeking to improve manufacturing efficiencies, any excipient technology that can help reduce cost pressures is likely to attract a high level of interest.
The current expansion of the pharmaceutical excipient sector, which a BCC Research report estimated would grow to $4.3bn (€2.8bn) by 2011, suggests that drugmakers are beginning to focus on this aspect of product development as an effective means of controlling development expenditure.
MCC333G helps drugmakers cut costs
The MCC333G binding, filling and disintegration agent was developed for immediate release drug applications and, according to Mallinckrodt, enables the direct compression of a wide range of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), offering significant cost advantages to manufacturers.
Commenting at the product’s launch Patrick Henry, Mallinckrodt’s global marketing manager for excipients, said that the PanExcea technology will allow drugmakers to simplify formulation development and reduce supply chain complexity.
Under the terms of its collaboration with Mallinckrodt, Rubicon will provide technology and formulation expertise, particularly in the development of oral solid dosage forms and dispensing systems.