Singapore: Swiss-based Ferring pharmaceuticals has struck a deal with CTCBIO of Korea. The deal gives Ferring pharmaceuticals exclusive rights to CTCBIO's novel oral drug delivery technology for peptides and proteins.

CTCBIO is a Seoul based specialty company that has successfully developed manufacturing technologies for more than 30 different drugs.

Mr Per Falk, MD, executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Ferring,said, "Ferring has been a pioneer in the development of novel oral drug delivery technologies. Our portfolio of peptide therapeutics make us an attractive partner for specialty technology-based companies like CTCBIO to collaborate on new approaches for oral drug delivery of peptides and proteins."

As per the agreement terms, the two companies will collaborate to develop prototype formulations for in-vitro and in-vivo testing and the subsequent up-scaling required to manufacture the technology to meet worldwide good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements.

"Keeping the active pharmaceutical ingredient stable and secure is critical," explained Dr Jeon Hongryeol, vice president of CTCBIO, "This technology makes this possible and is particularly useful for hydrophilic macromolecules like peptides and proteins while offering the advantage of oral administration."