Paladin and Nycomed to co-promote once-daily Tramadol in Canada

Paladin Labs Inc. and Nycomed Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Nycomed announced that the companies have entered into a Canadian Co-Promotion Agreement for Tridural once-daily tramadol. Paladin acquired the Canadian license to Tridural from Labopharm Inc. in July 2007 and launched Tridural in September 2007.

Under this Co-Promotion Agreement, Nycomed Canada will share brand responsibilities and expenses with Paladin and will deploy a national primary care sales force to promote Tridural. Paladin will continue to handle distribution of Tridural and will also continue to promote Tridural using its primary care sales force.

Tridural is a unique treatment option developed as a first-line therapy that provides 24-hour pain relief from a single tablet taken once-daily for adult patients with persistent pain who require treatment for several days or more.

Tridural is based on Labopharm's proprietary controlled-release technology, Contramid, and a novel dual matrix delivery system that facilitates both rapid and sustained drug release, maintaining optimal therapeutic blood levels of tramadol for a full 24-hour period. Tridural offers physicians and patients greater treatment flexibility based on its relatively rapid two-day titration schedule, which could help patients reach their optimum daily dose faster than any other approved once-daily tramadol product and quickly achieve effective pain relief. In addition, Tridural has a demonstrated safety profile based on clinical trial experience of more than 2,400 patients globally and almost two years of commercial experience. As a tramadol product, Tridural provides pain relief through its action at three sites related to analgesic activity: the mu-opioid receptor, the serotonin receptor, and the norepinephrine receptor.

"Our agreement with Nycomed to share brand expenses and to deploy an additional primary care sales force to promote Tridural will allow us to increase the potential for this important product," said Jonathan Goodman, president and CEO of Paladin. "We are excited to find a likeminded partner who shares our commitment to improving the treatment of pain in Canada to the benefit of patients".

"Tridural presents a compelling product opportunity in a large, underserved market. We believe that Nycomed's additional marketing and sales resources will more rapidly drive the adoption of Tridural as the cornerstone of treatment for patients with persistent, moderate pain. We are very pleased to be working in partnership with Paladin,." said John Suk, president and CEO of Nycomed Canada.