Meda sells NJ facility to DPT; outsources intra-urethral ED drug
Stockholm, Sweden-based pharmaceutical firm Meda announced today it is selling its plant in Lakewood, New Jersey to contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) DPT as part of a plan to improve efficiency across its manufacturing network.
“We are making a strategic review of our manufacturing to optimize production,” spokesperson Paula Treutiger told this publication. “The ambition is to improve our gross margins over time.”
The company has three other manufacturing sites in Illinois, Cologne (Germany) and Merignac (France), but the Lakewood site – which employs roughly 70 people – is dedicated to the formulation, filling into device and packaging of the firm’s impotence treatment Muse.
As part of the deal, DPT has entered into a long time agreement to supply Meda with Muse but Treutiger told us the CDMO is free to produce other products from the site.
The site adds two buildings totaling 90,000 square feet of space to DPTs network, fulfilling the CDMO’s need for additional cold storage and a larger state-of-the-art analytical laboratory.
“The Meda Pharmaceuticals space allows us to meet the needs of our clients today and beyond,” said Gene Ciolfi, VP and General Manager of DPT’s nearby facility said. “We are also in a better position to explore additional opportunities to further our capabilities from development through commercialization.”
Intra-urethral delivery
Muse is the only localised non-injection treatment approved in the US and EU to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). It contains the API alprostadil which is a synthetic version of the hormone Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) which helps regulate the contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle tissues.
The drug comes in the form of a suppository, delivered through an applicator inserted directly into the urethra where it is absorbed through the walls causing the surrounding erectile tissue to expand. Furthermore, the drug causes arteries to widen and allow more blood to enter the penis, while concurrently expanding and restricting blood vessels, preventing blood from leaving the penis.
Despite the administration, Meda says the localised delivery route offers advantages over other ED treatments, such as the oral dosage form of Pfizer’s Viagra, having fewer side effects due to the direct application to the penis. Furthermore, the company says Muse “maybe more comfortable and less traumatic” than alprostadil injectable drugs, such as Pfizer’s Caverject.
