Biopharmaceutical company Cell Therapeutics, Inc. or CTI (CTIC) Wednesday announced the signing of a five-year agreement with NerPharMa DS to manufacture CTI's drug candidate pixantrone for the treatment of relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or NHL.
NerPharMa is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company belonging to Nerviano Medical Sciences S.r.l. in Nerviano, Italy. Nerviano is one of the largest oncology-focused, integrated discovery and development companies in Europe.
CTI had announced on June 14 that the Italian Medicines Agency AIFA, which is the national drug regulation authority in Italy, approved the facility at NerPharMa for the production of pixantrone.
CTI said that the deal between the companies provides for both the commercial and clinical supply of pixantrone.
Commenting on the deal, Craig Philips, President of CTI, stated, "Entering into this agreement puts us one step closer to fulfilling our mission of being able to provide pixantrone to patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL, a setting for which there are currently no approved treatment options."
CTI also plans for this year to begin a Phase III trial of pixantrone in patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL in the U.S. Further, the company is currently preparing to submit a Marketing Authorization Application or MAA in the European Union for pixantrone. This is also planned for this year.
CTIC closed Tuesday's trading at $0.42, up $0.01, on a volume of 4.57 million shares.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com