On Monday, Orexigen Therapeutics entered a commercialization and distributorship agreement in the Middle East between its subsidiary Orexigen Therapeutics Ireland Ltd. and Biologix FZCO for Contrave.
The prolonged-release medicine is used as a monotherapy for weight management in adults. The Middle Eastern countries involved in the agreement are Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"Biologix's strong commercial capabilities and their extensive experience in the cardio-metabolic therapeutic area makes them an ideal partner to bring Contrave to multiple countries in the Middle East as a differentiated new treatment option to address the significant and growing problem of obesity," Orexigen CEO Michael Narachi said. "We have significantly advanced our ex-U.S. commercial strategy by establishing relationships with seven local and regional partners covering 38 countries around the world to support the drug's commercialization. We look forward to progressing with these alliances in 2017."
Biologix will be responsible for regulatory approvals and local product registration in all of the Middle East countries while Orexigen will supply the medicine to Biologix starting during the third quarter of 2017.
"We are looking forward to our partnership with Orexigen and are dedicated to using our experience to help bring Contrave to patients struggling with weight loss and obesity," Biologix CEO Selim Ghorayeb said
The Middle East and North Africa region is experiencing a significant rise in obesity with an estimated 58.5 percent of men and 65.5 percent of women being overweight or obese.
