Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ("Taro," the "Company," Pink Sheets: TAROF) announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued United States Patent No. 7,683,071 covering T2007. The patent, entitled "Composition and method for improved bioavailability and enhanced brain delivery of 5,5-diphenyl barbituric acid," is for one of a class of non-sedating barbiturate compounds currently in development by the Company.
In December 2009 the Company announced that it had begun Phase I clinical trials in Canada with T2007. T2007 is the sodium salt of diphenyl barbituric acid (DPB). Plans for T2007 are currently directed at its use as an antiepileptic agent. In animal models, DPB has efficacy comparable to phenobarbital, a long-established clinical treatment for epilepsy. Phenobarbital remains the most commonly prescribed antiepileptic drug throughout the world, although its use has always been limited by its sedating side effects and has been largely replaced by newer agents in Europe and North America.
Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is a multinational, science-based pharmaceutical company, dedicated to meeting the needs of its customers through the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of the highest quality healthcare products.
For further information on Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., please visit the Company's website at www.taro.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the Company's proprietary non-sedating barbiturate compounds, T2007 and its use in essential tremor and epilepsy. Although Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. believes the expectations reflected in such statements to be based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include industry and market conditions; slower than anticipated completion of clinical studies and results of such studies; changes in the Company's financial position; regulatory actions; and, other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including its Annual Reports on Form 20-F. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update, change or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, additional or subsequent developments or otherwise.
Contacts:
Kekst and Company
Roanne Kulakoff, 212-521-4827
