9 December 2020 - Deborah Wilkes
Germany’s Stada has inlicensed rights to Enzymatica’s ViruProtect common cold spray in the Nordic region excluding Sweden.
Stada said launches of ViruProtect in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway were scheduled for 2021.
Swedish company Enzymatica pointed out that the cough and cold market in the four countries was worth almost SEK1.5 billion (USD0.18 billion) in 2019.
Existing partnership
The agreement builds on an existing partnership between Stada and Sweden’s Enzymatica. In 2017, the two companies signed an agreement covering sales and distribution of ViruProtect in Austria and Belgium. The agreement was extended to another 19 European countries in May 2020, and to a further 14 countries including Poland, Russia and Ukraine in October 2020 (click here to read the News story).
Steffen Wagner, Stada’s executive vice-president, European markets, said the company had “recently launched ViruProtect in several countries through its extensive European marketing and sales network”.
ViruProtect – also marketed as ColdZyme in certain countries – is a class III medical device containing glycerol and the enzyme trypsin.
In vitro studies showed the cold spray was “effective against over 90% of main cold-causing viruses”, said Stada, adding that it could “shorten the duration of common cold in comparison to placebo”.
Marketing in parallel
Enzymatica has marketed the product as ColdZyme in Denmark and Norway since 2014 and in Finland through Tamro since 2015, as well as offering it as PreCold in Iceland since 2015.
The Swedish company will continue to sell its cold spray in Denmark, Norway and Iceland, and Tamro will continue to sell the product in Finland. Stada will market ViruProtect in parallel.
The two companies believe there is “room for several common cold sprays based on ColdZyme’s successful barrier technology”.
Enzymatica has recently announced a number of other agreements for ColdZyme.
In November 2020, the company said Jordan-based MS Pharma was set to launch ColdZyme under its registered trademarks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (click here to read the News story).
In October 2020, Enzymatica said Sanofi Consumer Healthcare was set to launch ColdZyme under its established brands in France and Italy (click here to read the News story).
About Enzymatica
Swedish firm Enzymatica specialises in developing and selling healthcare products for the ear, nose and throat. The products are based on a barrier technology using a cold-adapted trypsin that forms in the pancreas of cod fish.
“The enzyme has unique properties at body temperature – about 37 ºC – and higher enzymatic activity than the corresponding enzyme in mammals,” said the company. “These properties make the enzyme highly-effective in protecting against disease-related microorganisms such as viruses.”
ColdZyme, which is the company’s first product, has been launched in 15 countries on three continents.
Enzymatica offers its barrier technology in three products: a mouth spray as a medical device, a mouth spray as a cosmetic product, and an enzyme formulation for inclusion in customers' skincare products.
The Swedish company reported sales of SEK69.0 million in the first nine months of 2020, representing a rise of 76.0% compared to the same period a year earlier.