Recipharm Invests SEK 8 Million in Pharmanest to Support the Development of Pharmanest’s Lead Drug Candidate SHACT

Recipharm Venture Fund AB has together with Östersjöstiftelsen and Praktikerinvest made a joint investment of SEK 28 million in Pharmanest AB. Recipharm’s part of the investment is SEK 8 million. At the same time, Karolinska Development AB and its co-investor KCIF have agreed to sell their shares in Pharmanest to the three investors in exchange for an earn out arrangement on future revenues. After completion of the transaction Recipharm will hold approximately 25 % of the shares of Pharmanest.

Recipharm has since 2011 supported Pharmanest in its development of SHACT, an innovative topical pharmaceutical product for pain relief in conjunction with insertion of IUDs (Intra Uterine Devices). With this investment Pharmanest will have sufficient funding to move forward towards its next important milestone — submission of an application for regulatory approval in Europe for its first product candidate. Recipharm will receive pre-commercial revenues by providing Pharmanest with technical transfer and scale up services for future commercial manufacturing in its Karlskoga facility in Sweden.

Carl-Johan Spak, EVP Development & Technology Recipharm, commented: “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with our co-investors and Karolinska Development to secure sufficient funding for Pharmanest. We are convinced that Pharmanest with its product SHACT will be able to help a huge number of women with proper pain relief where there is no good alternative today. We do believe that our technical capabilities will also be very helpful in the further development of the product and we are looking forward to manufacturing the product in commercial volumes upon regulatory approval.”

“I am delighted to have Recipharm on board as a new shareholder. The capital raised will enable us together with Recipharm to prepare for the commercialization of SHACT. Our clinical trials indicate that SHACT has the potential to become the first safe and effective pain relief product for millions of women who use IUD. We now take a great leap forward and create opportunity for women undergoing gynecological procedures to be offered pain relief," Gunilla Lundmark, CEO of Pharmanest commented.