ALK's partner Torii initiates final stage of clinical development of Japanese cedar SLIT-tablet


Copenhagen, 2014-09-02 03:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  

ALK's (ALKB:DC / OMX: ALK B / AKABY / AKBLF) partner, Torii Pharmaceuticals has initiated a Phase II/III clinical development programme in Japan with the new allergy immunotherapy tablet for the treatment of Japanese cedar tree pollen allergy.

ALK today announces that its strategic partner, Torii, has advanced the clinical development programme for the Japanese cedar tree pollen sublingual immunotherapy tablet (SLIT-tablet) and initiated a Phase II/III clinical trial in Japan.

The trial is expected to include approximately 1,000 subjects and will investigate safety and efficacy of the SLIT-tablet in the treatment of Japanese cedar tree pollen-induced allergic rhinitis.

In addition, Torii is currently finalising the development of ALK's house dust mite SLIT-tablet and is expected to submit a registration application to the Japanese authorities within six months.

Jens Bager, President and CEO of ALK, commented: “We now have innovative products for the two most common allergies in Japan in the final stages of clinical development. This brings us closer to offering effective treatment to allergy sufferers for whom conventional allergy medicines are currently insufficient."  

Japan is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world where an estimated 25-35 million people suffer from allergy caused by Japanese cedar tree pollen or house dust mites. Japan has a higher level of diagnosed allergic rhinitis than anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, allergy immunotherapy is not yet widely used.  

This announcement does not change ALK's financial outlook for 2014. 

 

ALK-Abelló A/S
 

For further information, please contact:
Jens Bager, President and CEO, tel. (+45) 4574 7576
Investor Relations: Per Plotnikof, tel. (+45) 4574 7527, mobile (+45) 2261 2525
Press: Martin Barlebo, tel. (+45) 4574 7901, mobile (+45) 2064 1143


About the partnership with Torii
ALK’s partnership with Torii covers the development, registration and commercialisation of SLIT-tablets against house dust mite-induced allergy. It also covers ALK’s existing SCIT product against house dust mite allergy, diagnostics and the development of a SLIT-tablet against Japanese cedar pollen allergy.

About ALK
ALK is a research-driven global pharmaceutical company focusing on allergy prevention, diagnosis and treatment. ALK is the world leader in allergy immunotherapy – a unique treatment of the underlying cause of allergy. The company has approximately 1,800 employees with subsidiaries, production facilities and distributors worldwide. ALK has entered into partnership agreements with Merck and Torii to commercialise sublingual allergy immunotherapy tablets in North America and Japan, respectively. The company is headquartered in Hørsholm, Denmark, and listed on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen. Find more information at www.alk.net.


Attachments

FM_29_14UK_02092014.pdf