Benzinga | Oct 28, 2020 08:03AM EDT

Titan Pharma Reports Deal To Buy JT Pharma's Kappa Opioid Agonist Peptide, JT-09; Closing Of Deal Subject To Closing Conditions, Titan's Completion Of Financing With Gross Proceeds OF At Least $8M

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTNP) today announced that it has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with JT Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("JT Pharma"), a peptide drug development company, to acquire JT Pharma's kappa opioid agonist peptide, JT-09, for use in combination with Titan's ProNeura(r) long-term, continuous drug delivery technology, for the treatment of chronic pruritus.



Under the terms of the Agreement, JT Pharma is entitled to receive from Titan future milestone payments based on the achievement of regulatory milestones, including potential regulatory approval for commercialization, plus single-digit percentage earn-out payments on net sales of the product.

"Current treatments for moderate to severe chronic pruritus, a debilitating condition characterized by itching of the skin lasting longer than six weeks, are relatively ineffective and are associated with undesirable side-effects," said Dr. Kate DeVarney, President and Chief Operating Officer of Titan. "Our early non-clinical data suggest that subcutaneous implantation of JT-09 ProNeura implants could potentially deliver therapeutic concentrations of JT-09 for six months or longer, and we are looking forward to conducting additional preclinical studies to establish proof-of-concept with data available in the first half of 2021."

The closing of the agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and Titan's completion of a financing with gross proceeds of at least $8,000,000.