AFT to develop antibiotic eye drop

AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited,
Level 1, 129 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, Auckland 0622, New Zealand
Incorporated in New Zealand ARBN:
ARBN 609 017 969





02 Feb 2023
AFT to develop antibiotic eye drop
AFT Pharmaceuticals (NZX: AFT, ASX: AFP) today announces it has reached
agreement with Latitude Pharmaceuticals Inc to license Latitude’s key technology to
develop a stable antibiotic eye drop for patients at risk of serious eye infections.
The total addressable market is estimated by AFT Pharmaceuticals and Latitude
Pharmaceuticals as US$1 billion globally.
Latitude is a formulation development contract research organization based in San
Diego, United States, that provides innovative drug formulation development services
and proprietary drug delivery systems to the human and veterinary pharmaceutical
industries.
The licensed intellectual property involves a patented aqueous stable formulation for
an antibiotic eye drop. The antibiotic is already approved for treating a wide range
of medically important bacterial infections including those caused by the antibiotic
resistant MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) bacteria. However, no
approved ophthalmic solution for this antibiotic currently exists for the treatment of
serious, potentially sight-threatening infections, with the market being served with eye
drop solutions made by compounding pharmacies.
AFT Managing Director Dr Hartley Atkinson says “ Such extensive off-label use has
validated the market potential for this antibiotic for treating a number of important
ophthalmic conditions and the availability of a registered pharmaceutical product
would enable insurance coverage in the key USA market while avoiding the risk of
contamination from compounding operations.”
The planned development programme is expected to take 3-4 years up to the point
of re gulatory filings globally including in the major markets of USA, Europe, China, and
Japan. The programme is intended to be included within the company’s existing
research and development budget, which is forecast to be circa $12m per annum in
the FY2023 and FY2024 financial years.
Dr Atkinson says: “We see this as a very worthwhile area to help the treatment of
patients at risk of a serious eye infection due to drug resistant super bugs. It also offers
an attractive global commercial opportunity and is aligned with our recent drive to
further build up our research and development pipeline to fuel our global growth
aspirations.”

AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited,
Level 1, 129 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, Auckland 0622, New Zealand
Incorporated in New Zealand ARBN:
ARBN 609 017 969

Latitude President, Dr Andrew Chen, says the agreement with AFT Pharmaceuticals is
an exciting opportunity for the company.
“Partnerships with companies like AFT Pharmaceuticals are essential for realising a
technology’s full potential. AFT has the networks, skills, and resources to make the most
of this important opportunity, and it is exciting to partner with them on this journey.”
AFT has considerable expertise in drug repurposing work (reformulation of existing
drugs) having started such projects with Maxigesic back in 2004 and has previously
conducted clinical studies in several countries around the world.
AFT has developed and out-licensed patented repurposed pharmaceutical products
in over 100 countries and, to date, launched these products in some 53 countries. AFT
also in-licensed a significant number of products and has a growing number of existing
R&D programmes.
For and on behalf of AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited by Malcolm Tubby, Chief Financial
Officer

For more information:
Dr Hartley Atkinson Richard Inder
Managing Director The Project
AFT Pharmaceuticals Tel: +64 21 645 643
Tel: +64 9488 0232

Released for and on behalf of AFT Pharmaceuticals by Malcolm Tubby, Chief Financial
Officer

About AFT Pharmaceuticals
AFT is a growing multinational pharmaceutical company that develops, markets and
distributes a broad portfolio of pharmaceutical products across a wide range of
therapeutic categories which are distributed across all major pharmaceutical
distribution channels: over the counter (OTC), prescription and hospital. Our product
portfolio comprises both proprietary and in-licensed products, and includes patented,
branded and generic drugs. Our business model is to develop and in-license products
for sale by our own dedicated sales teams in our home markets of Australia and New
Zealand and in certain Southeast Asian markets, and to out-license our products to
local licensees and distributors to the rest of the world. For more information:
aftpharm.com

About Latitude Pharmaceuticals Inc
Latitude is a provider of innovative drug formulation services and drug delivery systems
to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries since 2003. Latitude is highly regarded
for its intellectual property-generating and innovative approaches to developing
pharmaceutical formulations for problematic and/or highly insoluble drug molecules.

AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited,
Level 1, 129 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, Auckland 0622, New Zealand
Incorporated in New Zealand ARBN:
ARBN 609 017 969

Latitude also provides its clients with GLP- and GMP-compliant manufacturing and
analytical testing services to fulfill the requirements of regulatory agencies around the
world for the supply of Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trial materials. For more
information: latitudepharma.com