DelSiTech Enters Into Research Collaboration With Orion Corporation

TURKU, FINLAND--(Marketwire - October 07, 2009) - DelSiTech Ltd, Turku, Finland, has signed a collaboration agreement with Orion Corporation. The agreement enables Orion to apply the unique and proprietary DelSiTech® drug delivery technology in combination with its drug molecules for different therapeutic purposes. DelSiTech will receive fully allocated payments for project work and also milestone payments tied to the progress of possible development projects. The agreement contains also an option for licensing and further collaboration.

Dr. Harry Jalonen, CEO of DelSiTech said: “We are proud to have been chosen by Orion as a partner for the development of new innovative drug delivery products. We have great expectations regarding the cooperation with the highly skilled personnel of Orion. This agreement opens possibilities for the DelSiTech drug delivery technology in new interesting fields. An important advantage is also that Orion’s R&D centre in Turku is located close to the site of DelSiTech.

Dr. Antti Haapalinna, Vice President, Research of Orion said: “We are happy to partner with DelSiTech and start research collaboration on the possible applications of this interesting delivery technology. In Orion, this kind of activity represents strategic research partnership, in which the parties join their knowledge to develop new medicines with added therapeutic value.

DelSiTech technology

The DelSiTech® drug delivery technology is a result of a cross-disciplinary project including top researchers from the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi, the Swedish-speaking University in Turku.The Biomaterial Research Group includes dentists, physicians, chemists, engineers and pharmacists and is globally one of the largest of its kind in the research of bioactive glass, sol-gel and glass fiber reinforced materials mainly for dental, orthopedic and drug delivery applications.

After the transfer of the technology, DelSiTech has started the industrialization process of the same. By combining the in depth know-how and intellectual property of silica chemistry with the newest nano technology it has been possible to encapsulate and controllably release extremely labile viruses and proteins to clinically useful applications. As the result of this work DelSiTech is today the leading company in the world in the field of controlled delivery of viruses. This application is expected to become soon a highly interesting and important field e.g. in the treatment of cancer.

It has been reported in several major international scientific congresses and publications that this technology works well in animals with small molecular drugs and live virus. The technology is protected by 9 international patent families covering about 100 patents and patent applications. DelSiTech has today several projects under development with companies in Europe, the USA and Asia. One of these projects is the licensing agreement with the global pharma company Bayer in the field of wound treatment.

DelSiTech Ltd

DelSiTech is a drug delivery company headquartered in Turku, Finland. DelSiTech Ltd started operations in late 2003. DelSiTech Ltd specializes in a unique and proprietary silica-based drug delivery technology DelSiTech® for controlled release with applications in small molecular drugs and biopharmaceuticals: proteins, polysaccharides (heparin) and viruses. The main use is for implants, subcutaneous and intra-muscular administration mainly for cancer, neurological and orthopedic applications.

For more about DelSiTech, please visit www.delsitech.com

Orion

Orion Corporation is a Finnish listed company, which develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and diagnostic tests for global markets. Orion has been building well-being for over 90 years. Pharmaceuticals account for about 95% of Orion’s net sales, of which a considerable part comes from proprietary patented pharmaceutical innovations. Orion carries on intensive research with the aim of introducing new innovative treatments to global markets. The core therapy areas in Orion’s product and research strategy are central nervous system, oncology and critical care, and respiratory medicines administered with the Easyhaler device.

In global marketing, Orion collaborates in partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies. Stalevo® and Comtess®/Comtan®, for Parkinson’s Disease, are the largest products by sales in Orion’s portfolio. These products are marketed in collaboration with Novartis, and they are the most significant globally marketed products for Orion.

Orion also has a large portfolio of generic, off-patent prescription medicines, hospital treatments and self-care products. These products are sold mainly in Finland, other Nordic countries, the new EU countries and Germany.

For more about Orion, please visit www.orion.fi/english