BALLERUP, Denmark: After successfully gaining FDA approval in April for Picato®, a novel treatment for solar keratoses, LEO Pharma has initiated a global search for new partners within dermatology.

"Last year, we changed our R&D focus to concentrate solely on dermatology. We are now a dermatology company, and we're searching for partners and opportunities to strengthen that position," says Kristian Lykke Fick, who is spearheading the partner search as Corporate Vice President of Corporate Business Development. He says that LEO Pharma last year spent EUR 141m on Research & Development, close to 15 percent of the company's revenue.

This year, LEO Pharma entered its first multi-million-dollar collaboration in January by signing an in-licensing deal with U.S. biotech company Virobay Inc. to develop an oral treatment for psoriasis.

When searching the globe for new partners, LEO Pharma focuses equally on existing and new therapeutic areas. The company currently has products indicated for psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, eczema and solar keratoses.

"Basically, any opportunity within prescription dermatology with a sales potential above EUR 75m has our interest. We seek early- and late-stage compounds as well as new delivery systems. Besides our current therapeutic focus, we'll be looking for drug candidates targeted at, for example, acne, rosacea, vitiligo, skin cancer and orphan skin diseases," says Kristian Lykke Fick and continues:

"We typically consider 500 opportunities annually, of which we find 100 interesting enough for further dialogue. In the end, we move about 10 of them to due diligence. I hope we'll find a handful of these most promising candidates at this year's BIO convention. If everything works out well, we can sign another two to three significant deals this year."

LEO Pharma has more than 5,000 employees in 61 countries with total revenue of EUR 1,039m in 2011. This makes it the third-largest pharmaceutical company in Denmark, preceded only by H. Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk. The BIO International Convention will be held June 18-21 in Boston and is the largest global partnering event for the biotechnology industry with more than 15,000 participants.

Link to fact sheet about LEO Pharma

Contact:

Kristian Lykke Fick, Corporate Vice President, Corporate Business Development, Mobile: +45-41-37-11-22, E-mail: kristian.fick@leo-pharma.com

SOURCE LEO Pharma