Endo, Penwest grant Opana ER license to Impax

HAYWARD, Calif. Endo Pharmaceuticals and Penwest Pharmaceuticals will grant Impax Labs a special license to sell a generic version of their painkiller, under a settlement between the companies announced Tuesday.

Impax will have a license to sell a generic version of Opana ER (oxymorphone hydrochloride) beginning Jan. 1, 2013. Endo and Impax also made a separate agreement whereby Endo will pay Impax up to $40 million in milestones to develop an Impax-branded pipeline product and obtain the right to co-promote it with Endo. Other terms of that deal were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to resolve all patent uncertainties and look forward to working with Endo on the development of a next generation Parkinson’s disease product,” Impax CEO Larry Hsu said. “We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with a highly respected company on a brand product.”