Merrion Pharmaceuticals' : GIPET Technology Progresses with Novo Nordisk Oral Insulin Development

29 May 2014

Dublin - 29 May 2014: Merrion Pharmaceuticals' (ESM:MERR) proprietary drug delivery technology, GIPET, is used in two development programmes within global healthcare company Novo Nordisk directed towards the development of oral treatments for patients with Diabetes. Following an internal project review, Novo Nordisk has announced that it expects to progress an insulin tablet formulated with GIPET (Novo Nordisk project NN1953) into a phase 2a proof-of-principle trial, an important step in the investigation of the efficacy and safety of the product in patients.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr John Fox, Chief Executive of Merrion Pharmaceuticals, said: "This is a significant step towards the eventual goal of an insulin tablet and consequent reduction in the burden of injections for patients with Diabetes. We are encouraged by the commitment Novo Nordisk continue to show towards bringing an oral insulin product to patients, and delighted that Merrion's GIPET technology is central to that effort."

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About Merrion Pharmaceuticals plc

Merrion Pharmaceuticals plc (www.merrionpharma.com) is a publicly listed (ESM:MERR) pharmaceutical company focused on delivering innovation to the market by partnering with complementary companies to develop patented products. Established in 2003, Merrion is primarily engaged in facilitating the development of oral forms (tablets/capsules) of drugs that have suboptimal absorption, many of which can only be given by injection, through the use of Merrion's proprietary drug delivery technology platform.