Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Anika Therapeutics irons out U.S. distribution deal with Artes Medical

By Mass High Tech Staff

Tissue therapeutics company Anika Therapeutics Inc. has signed an exclusive deal with Artes Medical Inc. of San Diego to distribute and market Elevess, Anika’s wrinkle filler.

The agreement calls for Artes Medical to receive exclusive distribution and marketing rights for Elevess in the United States. No financial details of the agreement were released.

Elevess is a cross-linked hyaluronic acid-based (HA) injectable filler that reduces the appearance of facial wrinkles and folds such as nasolabial folds — the first treatment of its kind approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to incorporate the anesthetic lidocaine to reduce patient discomfort, according to officials at Bedford-based Anika (Nasdaq: ANIK).

Artes Medical (Nasdaq: ARTE) makes ArteFill, an FDA-approved, nonresorbable dermal filler for the correction of smile lines.

According to Anika officials, Elevess has been approved for sale in the United States, the European Union and Canada.

Anika Therapeutics reported a profit of $6 million for 2007 on revenue of $30.8 million.