SAUDI ARABIA – Tabuk Pharmaceuticals, the largest privately-owned pharmaceutical company in Saudi Arabia, has entered into an exclusive license and distribution agreement with Pennsylvania-based Levolta Pharmaceuticals.
The goal of the strategic partnership is to market and distribute Levolta’s investigational osteoarthritis (OA) therapy in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), excluding South Africa.
Levolta will be responsible for product manufacturing and quality assurance initiatives as part of the exclusive license and distribution agreement with Tabuk Pharmaceuticals.
Under the terms of this exclusive agreement, Tabuk Pharmaceuticals will oversee the commercialization activities of this investigational osteoarthritis therapy, VOLT01, across the MEA region.
VOLT01, currently in Phase II clinical trials, is the first-of-its-kind disease-modifying therapy for osteoarthritis that is being developed by Levolta Pharmaceuticals.
Tabuk Pharmaceuticals, a part of the Astra Industrial Group, will hold the marketing authorization and be responsible for registering, importing, and commercializing VOLT01 in the MEA region.
The strategic alliance builds on Tabuk’s goal of providing patients across the Middle East and Africa with unique healthcare solutions that support their health and well-being.
It is in line with the pharmaceutical company’s commitment to helping Saudi Arabia achieve its Vision 2030 by providing unique medications addressing different therapeutic areas.
In his address, Mohammed Al Hagbani, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tabuk Pharmaceuticals and President of Astra Industrial Group, said: “We are confident that VOLT01 will play a major role in improving the health conditions of over 5 million osteoarthritis patients in Saudi Arabia.”
Tabuk Pharmaceuticals and Levolta Pharmaceuticals will work closely to tackle an unmet medical need, affecting approximately 24.6 million individuals in the Middle East and North Africa region as of 2019.
This joint effort is expected to accelerate the market entry of VOLT01 as a novel therapeutic option for patients with osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease without a cure.
Developing a disease-modifying drug for osteoarthritis has been an unachievable quest so far, but with VOLT01, that goal may finally be achieved.
Commenting on this collaboration, Chief Executive Officer of Levolta Pharmaceuticals, Richard P. Becker Jr., said: “This partnership with Tabuk Pharmaceuticals represents the next step in bringing the first disease-modifying therapy for osteoarthritis to market.”
Levolta is gearing up to begin Phase III clinical trials for VOLT01 in late 2023 or early 2024 as it continues to explore similar collaboration opportunities with global pharmaceutical companies.
What’s more, the new license and distribution agreement is a great opportunity for Levolta Pharmaceuticals to expand its footprint in the Middle East and Africa region and as a strategic partner to help Saudi Arabia achieve better health for its population.
It comes as part of the innovation-led company’s efforts to fill the global void in the treatment of osteoarthritis, which affects more than 32.5 million adults in the United States alone.
Moreover, Pennsylvania-based Levolta Pharmaceuticals plans to bring a wide range of difficult-to-manufacture products in new therapeutic areas and specialty medications into the MEA region.
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