Elan and Emisphere in joint venture for oral heparin; Elan hires ex-FDAer as compliance chief.
Executive Summary
ELAN/EMISPHERE TECHNOLOGIES JOINT VENTURE FOR ORAL HEPARIN/HEPARINOIDS will combine Elan's drug delivery and Emisphere's membrane absorption technologies under a letter-of-intent stage agreement. The alliance would focus on development of oral heparin and heparinoid products, anticoagulants that now are administered intravenously. The joint venture, announced Oct. 18, will seek pharmaceutical partners interested in developing oral formulations of the anticoagulant products, using Emisphere's CADDSYS and PODDS transmembrane technologies and Elan's broad drug delivery technologies to develop the final formulations more rapidly.