SAN DIEGO, Jan. 28, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apricus Biosciences, Inc. ("Apricus Bio") (Nasdaq:APRI), (http://www.apricusbio.com) today announced that its research and development team at its NexMed, USA, Inc. ("NexMed, USA") subsidiary is presenting data demonstrating the use of the Company's proprietary NexACT® technology to improve less permeable or less soluable drugs, at the Controlled Release Society ("CRS") Product Development Forum for Poorly Soluble Drugs, being held January 27 to 29, 2011, in Miami, Florida. The presentation, entitled, "Improved Oral Absorption of BCS 2-4 Compounds Using the NexACT® Technology" is scheduled to be presented by Richard Martin, Ph.D., Vice President, Chemistry at NexMed, USA on Thursday, January 27, 2011 from 4:30 pm to 5:45 pm EST and also on Friday January 28, 2011 from 10:50 am to 2:15 pm EST.
The BCS, developed by Professor Gordon L. Amidon from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan, separates drugs into four quadrants depending on their solubility and permeability. Class 1 drugs are high solubility and high permeability, Class 2 low solubility and high permeability, Class 3 high solubility and low permeability, and Class 4 low solubility and low permeability. In the NexMed studies, the compounds that showed the most improvement when formulated with the NexACT® technology was in Classes 2 and 4, where solubility is a determining factor.
Dr. Bassam Damaj, Apricus Bio's Chief Executive Officer commented on these results, "We are very pleased with the research and development efforts of our NexMed, USA team. This data demonstrates to us that the NexACT® technology may be used to enhance the oral bioavailability of some of the less permeable and less soluble drugs on the market today. We believe this is another application for our NexACT® technology, which could be used by us with any of our future proprietary drug candidates, or it may be applied to a broader range of generic drugs and proprietary drugs owned by others. These results continue to validate our strategy of evaluating our NexACT® technology for additional indications beyond improving the topical delivery of products and to also offer partners the ability to potentially improve the convenience and bioavailability of their oral drugs."
About Apricus Biosciences, Inc.
Backed by NexMed, USA and Bio-Quant, Inc., its revenue generating CRO business, Apricus Bio has leveraged the flexibility of its clinically-validated NexACT® drug delivery technology to enable multi-route administration of new and improved compounds across numerous therapeutic classes. Future growth is expected to be driven primarily through out-licensing of this technology for the development and commercialization of such compounds to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, worldwide. Concurrently, the Company is seeking to monetize its existing product pipeline, including its approved drug erectile dysfunction treatment, Vitaros®, as well as compounds in development from pre-clinical through Phase III, currently focused on dermatology, sexual dysfunction and cancer. For further information on Apricus Bio and its subsidiaries, visit http://www.apricusbio.com.
Apricus Bio's Forward-Looking Statement Safe Harbor
Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, as amended: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, its ability to replicate its research results with various drugs, to develop such drugs utilizing the NexACT® technology that have been demonstrated in clinical trials, to receive approval of its products from the US FDA and other regulatory authorities, and to successfully enter into partnership agreements for its product candidates, its Vitaros® product and its NexACT® platform technology. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q and other filings made with the SEC. Copies of these reports are available from the SEC's website or without charge from the Company.