inVentiv Health And Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Form Innovative Partnership To Commercialize Aprecia's Unique Technology Platform

BURLINGTON, Mass. and LANGHORNE, Pa., June 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- inVentiv Health ("inVentiv"), a life science knowledge and services company, and Aprecia Pharmaceuticals ("Aprecia"), a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today an exclusive sales and marketing alliance.

This partnership will launch the Aprecia brand, as well as provide comprehensive commercialization of Aprecia's pioneering technology platform and initial pharmaceutical products.

Aprecia is the first and only pharmaceutical company offering the proprietary ZipDose® product platform using three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology to create fast-melt products. These products promise to change how patients experience taking their medicine by making drugs easier to administer and swallow. Aprecia has completed clinical work and expects to file its first New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second half of 2014.

inVentiv Health has directly supported the development and/or commercialization of 60 percent of all drugs approved by the FDA in the last 5 years. By partnering with inVentiv, Aprecia gains access to the industry's only full commercialization outsourcing organization.

Under the terms of the agreement, inVentiv will partner with Aprecia as its exclusive provider of comprehensive commercialization services and will share in the success of the commercialization efforts.  inVentiv will invest time and materials to launch Aprecia and to commercialize its products in exchange for a negotiated royalty from future sales. inVentiv's services include: sales teams and sales training, strategic and tactical market access services, non-personal promotion, advertising, public relations, adherence services, and full management of the commercialization teams.

"Getting medicine into the human body reliably and accurately is both a challenge and an enormous opportunity," said Don Wetherhold, Chief Executive Officer of Aprecia. "To realize the potential of our technology and move quickly into market, we sought a partner that could execute every phase and function in commercialization -- and inVentiv was the obvious choice."

Wetherhold added that with access to inVentiv's vast commercial services, "Aprecia anticipates achieving rapid market penetration while retaining control of our proprietary products."

Michael Griffith, Executive Vice President of inVentiv Health, said, "inVentiv Health offers innovative companies a unique outsourcing model for comprehensive commercialization." 

"We are pleased to have entered into this agreement with Aprecia and are looking forward to introducing their innovative technology platform and their much-needed products. Because of our unmatched expertise of pharmaceutical launches, clients know they can count on inVentiv Health to transform their assets into commercial success," Griffith said.  

About Aprecia  
Aprecia is a unique specialty pharmaceutical company built upon an innovative and proprietary three dimensional printing (3DP) technology platform. The company has an exclusive worldwide license for 3DP originally developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for use in pharmaceutical applications. Aprecia's 3DP platform can give rise to multiple product enhancing dosage forms to be used in a variety of therapeutic categories. The company expects that its initial products will be based on its proprietary, orally-dispersing ZipDose® technology. Aprecia's ZipDose® products will focus on opportunities where there is an unmet need for medicines that are easier to take — children, elderly, and special patient groups. Aprecia expects to file its first New Drug Application with the FDA the 2nd half of 2014. The company is privately owned, with Prasco Laboratories, and the E. Thomas Arington Family holding controlling interest. For more information visit http://www.aprecia.com.

About inVentiv Health  
inVentiv Health, Inc. is a life science knowledge and services company purpose-built for the new healthcare marketplace. inVentiv has created a new model by converging a vast range of essential services to fully align with our client's development and commercialization goals. With more than 12,000 employees supporting clients in 70 countries, our global scale and broad expertise make us an attractive strategic partner for companies seeking to get medicines to patients in a complex operating, regulatory and reimbursement environment. inVentiv Health's clients include more than 550 life sciences companies, including all 20 of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world. inVentiv Health, Inc. is privately owned by inVentiv Group Holdings, Inc., an organization sponsored by affiliates of Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P., Liberty Lane Partners and members of the inVentiv management team. inVentiv Health transforms promising ideas into commercial reality for the financial success of our clients and the delivery of better treatments to patients worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.inVentivHealth.com.

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SOURCE inVentiv Health, Inc.