Aequus and Scientus Agree to Terms for a Medical Cannabis Commercial Supply and Product Development Collaboration
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 01, 2017) - Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc., ("Aequus") (TSX VENTURE: AQS) (OTCQB: AQSZF), a specialty life sciences company focused on providing patients with differentiated and enhanced delivery systems for existing and approved drugs, and Scientus Pharma Inc., ("Scientus"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on R&D and product commercialization for extracts and formulations related to medical cannabinoids and their derivatives, announced today that they have signed a non-binding term sheet on a collaboration to develop, assess clinical performance, and commercialize a cannabinoid containing transdermal formulation designed and optimized to address both acute and chronic treatment of Resistant Epilepsy, and certain other neurological disorders.
Scientus will be the supplier of specific cannabinoid extracts and will have an option to co-fund the clinical development of this program. The parties expect to expand the collaboration to additional product development programs in the future.
"We are delighted to collaborate with Scientus for development and commercial supply as we advance this first product, a pharmaceutical-grade, transdermal cannabinoid based therapy for use in epilepsy and potentially other additional neurological disorders," said Doug Janzen, Chairman and CEO of Aequus. "Within only three months of announcing our involvement in the medical cannabis space, we've completed a comprehensive survey with physicians identifying current challenges and validating our product concepts, partnered with the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) for formulation development, and have now formed a product specific relationship with a high quality, medically focused Licensed Dealer who shares our vision to improve the quality of cannabis-based options currently available in progressive markets, such as Canada."
Scientus Pharma, a vertically-integrated biopharmaceutical company is both a Licensed Dealer under the Controlled Substances Act, and a Licensed Producer Applicant under the ACMPR. Scientus is raising the bar of cannabinoid products from medical-grade to pharmaceutical-grade. Leveraging its proprietary, patent-pending formulation and processing technologies, Scientus Pharma is committed to leading the medical cannabis market towards pharmaceutical standards in manufacturing, formulations and dosing.
"Our product pipeline includes a range of dosing forms in solid, liquid and aerosolized forms targeting a number of indications, including neuropathic pain. We are excited about broadening that pipeline to include transdermal technologies through a collaboration with Aequus," said Trevor Folk, President and CEO of Scientus. "Transdermal approaches have significant potential for safe, effective therapies in a number of disease indications and we are looking forward to leveraging Aequus' expertise to advance the science in the area of refractive epilepsy."
The economics of each product development program under this agreement will be allocated based on the respective party's contribution of funding, resources and intellectual property made during product development.
