Daiichi Sankyo has formed a strategic collaboration with Inspirion Delivery Sciences, a Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based specialty pharmaceutical company, to commercialize MorphaBond (morphine sulfate) extended-release tablets, CII, an abuse-deterrent opioid approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and indicated for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative options are inadequate.

The agreement also provides Daiichi Sankyo with the rights to commercialize a separate investigational Inspirion compound in the US if approved by the FDA. Both MorphaBond and the second product feature SentryBond, a patent-protected abuse-deterrent technology.

Under the agreement, which is pending Hart-Scott-Rodino clearance, Inspirion will receive an upfront payment in addition to milestone payments and royalties. Daiichi Sankyo will lead the commercialization of the co-promotion with Inspirion for MorphaBond, and if approved, the second product. Financial details were not disclosed.

MorphaBond is an abuse-deterrent formulation of extended-release morphine using physical and chemical barriers without the use of aversive agents or opioid antagonists. It is formulated with inactive ingredients that make the tablet difficult to adulterate for misuse and abuse while maintaining extended-release characteristics.

The SentryBond technology platform combines inactive excipients with active pharmaceutical ingredients in a tablet that is designed to frustrate abuse via methods of manipulation and routes of administration. When subjected to physical manipulation and/or attempts at chemical extraction, SentryBond is designed to maintain the intended release profile of extended-release products and to delay the release of immediate-release products, according to information from the companies. 

Source: Daiichi Sankyo