SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a - 16 OR 15d - 16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of April, 2006
SkyePharma PLC
SkyePharma PLC, 105 Piccadilly, London W1J 7NJ England
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40F.
Form 20-F X Form 40-F
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes No X
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- _______
For Immediate Release 28 April, 2006
SkyePharma PLC
SKYEPHARMA ANNOUNCES FIRST EUROPEAN
APPROVAL OF DEPODUR™
Innovative Single Epidural Injection
48 Hours of Post-Surgical Pain Relief
LONDON, UK, 28 April 2006 -- SkyePharma PLC (LSE: SKP, Nasdaq: SKYE)) announces
today that the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ("MHRA")
has approved SkyePharma's DepoDur™ for the treatment of pain following major
surgery. Previously referred to as DepoMorphine™, DepoDur™ is a novel
single dose sustained-release injectable formulation of morphine.
Frank Condella, Chief Executive of SkyePharma, said: "We are delighted with the
approval of DepoDur in the UK and are confident that this will lead to
additional approvals in other European markets under the Mutual Recognition
Process DepoDur™ represents another successful outcome resulting from the
major commitment SkyePharma has made to product development, including funding
the product through Phase III trials and building and on-going funding of a
purpose-built manufacturing plant in San Diego, USA. Our clinical trial
programme for DepoDur™ involved over 1000 patients in four different pain
models and demonstrated the great potential of the product to improve the
control of post-operative pain.
"DepoDur™ was developed and is manufactured by SkyePharma Inc. the San Diego
based injectable business, which SkyePharma has announced is in the process of
being divested, "This approval, along with the availability of EU rights for
DepoDur™, provides further value to our injectable business."
DepoDur™ was licensed to Zeneus for distribution in the EU. Recently,
SkyePharma bought back the rights to the product.
DepoDur™ is licensed to Endo Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ENDP) for sale in the
USA.
For further information please contact:
| SkyePharma PLC | +44 207 491 1777 | ||
| Frank Condella, Chief Executive Officer | |||
| Peter Laing, Director of Corporate Communications | +44 207 491 5124 | ||
| Sandra Haughton, US Investor Relations | +1 212 753 5780 | ||
Buchanan Communications | +44 207 466 5000 | ||
| Tim Anderson/Rebecca Skye Dietrich | |||
Notes for editors:
About SkyePharma
SkyePharma PLC develops pharmaceutical products benefiting from world-leading
drug delivery technologies that provide easier-to-use and more effective drug
formulations. There are now twelve approved products incorporating SkyePharma's
technologies in the areas of oral, injectable, inhaled and topical delivery,
supported by advanced solubilisation capabilities. For more information, visit
www.skyepharma.com.
About DepoDur™
DepoDur™ is a single dose extended-release injectable formulation of morphine
sulphate. DepoDur™ employs SkyePharma's proprietary DepoFoam™ technology
and is supplied as a ready-to-use suspension. It is given as a single epidural
injection before or during surgery and provides pain relief for up to 48 hours
following surgery. There is no need for an in-dwelling catheter for continuous
infusion, thereby overcoming a major drawback to the otherwise theoretically
desirable epidural route of administration for opioid analgesics.
DepoDur™ is designed for the control of pain after major surgery. SkyePharma
expects that its main use will be in control of post-operative pain in
hospitalised patients undergoing major surgical procedures requiring general or
regional anaesthesia such as major abdominal surgery, orthopaedic surgery and
caesarean section. Currently there are an estimated 6 million such procedures
every year in the USA and 5 million in Europe.
DepoDur™ is supplied in a 2 ml vial containing a 10 mg/ml suspension in
sterile saline and is administered as a single dose epidural injection at the
lumbar level prior to surgery (or after clamping of the umbilical cord during
caesarean section). The recommended dose is 10 mg for caesarean section, 10-15
mg for lower abdominal surgery and 15 mg for major orthopaedic surgery of the
lower extremities. Some patients may benefit from a dose of 20 mg. It should be
appreciated that as with all opioids the incidence of serious adverse
respiratory events is dose-related. Respiratory depression is the chief hazard
of all opioid preparations and occurs more frequently in elderly or debilitated
patients. For elderly patients (age >65 years), the low end of the dosing range
for DepoDur™ is recommended together with vigilant peri-operative monitoring.
On 20 November 2003 SkyePharma submitted an application for DepoDur™ to the
UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ("MHRA"). Following
national approval in the UK, SkyePharma now intends to seek approval in other
European Union countries under the Mutual Recognition procedure. SkyePharma has
licensed DepoDur™ to Endo for North America and is now seeking a partner for
the product in the EU.
SkyePharma has completed seven clinical trials of DepoDur™. The Phase IIb and
Phase III clinical development programme for DepoDur™ involved four separate
pain models and included more than 1000 patients. In the two Phase III trials,
in hip surgery and lower abdominal surgery, DepoDur™ demonstrated extended
dose-related analgesia and achieved its primary endpoint (superiority over study
comparators in terms of total demand for opioid analgesics after surgery) with a
high degree of statistical significance (p <0.0001 and p=0.0003, respectively).
DepoDur™ also achieved statistical significance on several secondary
endpoints. Importantly, statistical significance was achieved for the current
pain intensity scores at rest and with activity over a 48 hour period and for
the ratings of overall pain control.
In two related Phase IIb trials, DepoDur™ was significantly better than study
comparators in the caesarean section study (p=0.0209) and approached statistical
significance in the knee arthroplasty study (p=0.0902), which used a novel
endpoint: time-weighted pain intensity recall score over 48 hours. DepoDur™
achieved a high degree of statistical significance in total demand for opioid
analgesics after surgery (p=0.001), a secondary endpoint in this trial but the
primary endpoint in the three other studies.
In all four of these studies the safety profile of DepoDur™ was typical for
an epidural opioid agent. As with all opioid preparations, respiratory
depression is the chief hazard associated with DepoDur™. The most common
adverse events reported during clinical trials were decreased oxygen saturation,
hypotension, urinary retention, vomiting, constipation, nausea, pruritus,
pyrexia, anemia, headache and dizziness.
About DepoFoam™
DepoFoam™ is SkyePharma's proprietary extended-release injectable delivery
technology. This is fully commercialised and approved by regulatory agencies in
both the USA and Europe. DepoFoam™ consists of lipid-based particles
containing discrete water-filled chambers dispersed through the lipid matrix.
The particles are 10-30 microns in diameter and are suspended in saline. The
suspension resembles skimmed milk and can be injected through a fine needle. The
water-filled chambers containing active drug account for most of the weight of
the particles. The lipids are naturally occurring substances (or close
analogues) such as phospholipids and triglycerides. The small amount of lipid is
cleared rapidly in the body as the particles deliver their drug payload over a
period that can be modified from 1 to 30 days.
About post-operative pain
After a major surgical operation, the level of pain is usually very high for the
first one to two days but the intensity of pain gradually subsides and by the
end of the second day pain can normally be satisfactorily controlled with oral
analgesics. For the immediate post-operative period, opioid analgesics like
morphine (used alone or in combination with other non-opioid analgesics) are
likely to remain the "gold standard" for relief of severe acute pain. However
the relatively short duration of pain relief with opioids means that they
require either continuous infusion or patient-controlled analgesia ("PCA") in
which a pump delivers a series of doses of a short-acting opioid analgesic in
response to the patient pressing a button (under computer control to prevent
over-dosing). Both of these approaches require the patient to have an
in-dwelling epidural or intravenous catheter. Such catheters can fall out or
interfere with patient mobility and are a potential source of infections.
Epidural catheters are also contra-indicated with concomitant use of
anticoagulants because of the risk of bleeding in the spinal column that can
potentially result in paralysis. There is a growing trend toward routine use of
anticoagulants in patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery in order to prevent
the formation of blood clots.
About the European licensing system for pharmaceuticals
The European system for the registration of medicinal products is based on three
complementary procedures: National, Centralised and Mutual Recognition.
1. National procedure
Used to authorise medicinal products for local use in individual European Union
("EU") member states. National authorisation can form the basis for a subsequent
application to other member states via the Mutual Recognition procedure.
2. Centralised procedure
Applications are submitted directly to the European Agency for the Evaluation of
Medicinal Products ("EMEA"). Within the EMEA, the Committee for Proprietary
Medicinal Products ("CPMP") appoints two member states to assess the
documentation forwarded and prepare detailed evaluation reports to form the
basis for evaluation by other members and consequent discussions in the CPMP.
The time limit for the evaluation procedure is 210 days. The CPMP considers the
completed assessment and delivers a favourable or unfavourable opinion as to
whether to grant the authorisation. Marketing authorisation is valid throughout
the EU and also in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The Centralised procedure
is compulsory for medicinal products derived from biotechnology and optional for
new active substances and other innovative medicinal products.
3. Mutual Recognition procedure
Allows a pharmaceutical company that has obtained a National marketing
authorisation in one EU member state to apply to one or more other member states
to recognise the product. If the original National marketing authorisation
cannot be mutually recognised by another member state, the points in dispute are
referred to the CPMP for arbitration. A CPMP decision is binding on all member
states.
Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements and are made in reliance on the safe harbour provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Although SkyePharma believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will materialize. Because the expectations are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may vary significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements based upon a number of factors, which are described in SkyePharma's 20-F and other documents on file with the SEC. Factors that could cause differences between actual results and those implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release include, without limitation, risks related to the development of new products, risks related to obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval for existing, new or expanded indications of existing and new products, risks related to SkyePharma's ability to manufacture products on a large scale or at all, risks related to SkyePharma's and its marketing partners' ability to market products on a large scale to maintain or expand market share in the face of changes in customer requirements, competition and technological change, risks related to regulatory compliance, the risk of product liability claims, risks related to the ownership and use of intellectual property, and risks related to SkyePharma's ability to manage growth. SkyePharma undertakes no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
SkyePharma PLC
By: /s/ Douglas Parkhill
Name: Douglas Parkhill
Title:
Company Secretary
Date: April 28, 2006