Specialist pharmaceutical development company Amzell B.V has acquired Bazell Pharma AG, a high-end clinical development and R&D laboratory facility based in Allschwil, Switzerland, to help to accelerate its development pipeline of late-stage novel drug candidates.

Amzell specialises in developing well-characterized active substances through to proof-of-concept or registration for sale to commercial partners. Amzell’s innovative platforms and drug delivery technologies provide effective drug delivery, increased efficacy, and improved safety and compliance. Amzell’s CEO, Dario Carrara, comments, “We are very pleased to have finalised the acquisition of Bazell Pharma, as these lab facilities will be highly significant for the new candidates we have coming through our development pipeline. As our two lead candidates, AMZ001 for Osteoarthritis of the Knee, and AMZ002 for Infantile Epileptic Disease, have now reached Phase 3 trials, we are able to accelerate the development of some of our earlier stage candidates.”

Alan Harris chairman of Amzell BV will also become chairman of Bazell Pharma AG while Dario Carrara will become CEO of Bazell Pharma AG.

Amzell’s lead development candidate, AMZ001, is a novel non-invasive topical diclofenac formulation, containing 3.06% diclofenac sodium, which uses Amzell’s proprietary transdermal technology. This transdermal drug delivery platform delivers the drug substance beyond the skin and into the systemic circulation where it will be taken up and transported through the body to its site of action. Key benefits of this approach include greater bioavailability, excellent skin tolerability with no need for heat, microneedle, occlusion, or electrical current, and a skin-friendly gel carrier which is odourless, transparent, and preservative-free.

Each dose of AMZ001 is accurately administered by an airless metered dose pump, and its higher drug strength combined with an efficient topical delivery system allows AMZ001 to improve localized pain with a single daily application (QD), resulting an efficient topical NSAID treatment. Results of a phase 2/3 multi-centre, randomized, double-blind trial of AMZ001, published in August 2020, found that it provides efficacy and safety results in the relief of pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knee (OA).