OREANDA-NEWS. PAION AG (ISIN DE000A0B65S3; Frankfurt Stock Exchange General Standard: PA8) and R-Pharm, Russia, today announced that they have extended their license agreement for Remimazolam to include Turkey. Earlier, on October 30, 2013 R-Pharm entered into an exclusive licence agreement for Remimazolam for Russia (CIS). R-Pharm will operationally execute the agreement through its affiliated company TR-Pharm based in Istanbul.

PAION will receive an upfront payment in the amount of EUR 1.0 million, potential regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to EUR 3.0 million and low double digit royalties on net sales in the Territory. R-Pharm will manage the development and marketing approval process in Turkey. R-Pharm intends to market Remimazolam in all indications with the lead indication anaesthesia and plans to start a bridging study in anaesthesia as soon as possible with an expected launch of Remimazolam in 2016.

Dr. Wolfgang Sohngen, Chief Executive Officer of PAION AG, stated: „The young and entrepreneurial (T) R-Pharm team has convinced us with their excellent analysis and positioning of Remimazolam for their exciting market, which has confirmed previous assumptions. The agreement could be reached in record time and the ONO Phase III data last week came in timely. Covering major Asian markets already and now regions which cover parts of the strongest economies of EurAsia is a major step in our “String of Pearls” strategy and sets a further benchmark for other regions.”

“High expertise of PAION together with our clinical, regulatory and commercial capabilities and strong demand for efficient and safe anaesthetic in the Turkish market - create the momentum to bring this innovative drug to patients“, said Vasily G. Ignatiev, CEO of R-Pharm.

Remimazolam is an innovative short-acting general anaesthetic/sedative. Due to its short duration of action and good controllability, it has a preferable efficacy and safety profile relative to other currently marketed anaesthesia compounds. The rapid offset of Remimazolam's effect is due to its metabolism by tissue esterase enzymes that are widely distributed throughout the body. Remimazolam has potential in three indications:

Procedural sedation

General anaesthesia

ICU sedation Remimazolam is available for licensing outside Japan, China, Russia (CIS) and Turkey, as well as South Korea, where the compound is partnered with Ono Pharmaceutical, Yichang Humanwell, R-Pharm and Hana Pharm.