RedHill Biopharma Regains Rights to Proprietary Bowel Preparation

RedHill Biopharma (NASDAQ:RDHL) announced that it has sent Salix Pharmaceuticals with a notice of termination of their 2014 license agreement, regaining its worldwide exclusive rights to a proprietary encapsulated formulation for bowel preparation, RHB-106.

As quoted in the press release:

“We are pleased to regain the rights to RHB-106, which aligns well with our expanded gastrointestinal-focused commercial activities in the U.S., and to pursue its development toward potential U.S. FDA approval,” said Dror Ben-Asher, RedHill’s CEO. “The quality of a bowel preparation, defined by its safety, palatability and efficacy, directly impacts the success of a colonoscopy. We believe RHB-106’s novel flavorless solid oral pill formulation holds significant potential advantages over current bowel preparations and could ease patient burden and improve the likelihood of a successful outcome.”

It is estimated that approximately 19 million colonoscopies are performed annually in the U.S.1 The annual number of procedures in the U.S. is increasing, presumably due to the rising awareness of colorectal cancer. The 2019 sales of bowel preparations in the U.S. are estimated at approximately $580 million.

Click here to read the full press release.