CHEPLAPHARM acquired rights to Xeloda® in certain countries worldwide. The active ingredient of Xeloda® (capecitabine) is listed in the WHO list of essential medicines and is known as a well-established, active and potent chemotherapy agent. Capecitabine is an oral antimetabolite and antineoplastic prodrug of 5-fluorouracil, with enhanced tumor selectivity. Since its approval, Xeloda® has globally developed into an essential backbone used in various oncology treatments including colorectal, gastric (in some countries esophagogastric) and metastatic breast cancer and is recommended in various major clinical guidelines as one of the standard chemotherapeutic treatments.
As CHEPLAPHARM is already active in the therapeutic area of Oncology with global brands like Etopophos®, Vesanoid®, Suprefact® or Anandron®, Xeloda® is a perfect addition to the highly diversified portfolio of the company.
As the first orally available chemotherapy, Xeloda® was launched in 1998 in the United States for patients with metastatic breast cancer, followed by the launch for the European markets in 2001 as monotherapy for treating colorectal cancer. Today, Xeloda® is registered in more than 100 countries and indicated as highly needed for these two most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide with high mortality rates.[1] Capecitabine has been investigated in more than 400 trials at clinicaltrials.gov to improve on current cancer therapies and remains to be used as a core backbone for multiple treatments in combinations with new agents.
The transaction includes product registrations, intellectual property, certain contracts and inventories. It does not include any transfer of manufacturing facilities or employees.
[1] Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN, acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21660