The pharmaceutical company Faes Farma has signed an agreement with SLA Pharma AG, a company settled in Switzerland specialised in research and development of gastroenterological treatments. As a result, Faes Farma will take on the manufacturing and marketing in Spain, Portugal and Latin America of topical metronidazole, a proprietary drug of the Swiss pharmaceutical firm indicated for perianal pathology in Crohn's disease.

Once the phase III clinical trials to which the drug is currently subject are over, topical metronidazole will allow to replace the present oral treatment involving high metronidazole doses and its subsequent adverse effects as well as to remove the anal rectal pain associated to Crohn's disease. This chronic inflammatory disorder affects around 100,000 people in Spain, 33% of which are under 20 years of age.

This agreement will allow Faes Farma to promote its presence in Latin America, especially in Mexico and Brazil where market growth prospects are much higher than those in European countries. The approval of topical metronidazole will provide doctors and patients with a safer and more profitable alternative, and will allow Faes Farma to consolidate its product portfolio regarding gastroenterological treatment.

International expansion is one of Faes Farma's key objectives. In fact, the licensing of drugs such as Bilastine has enabled its positioning in more than 60 countries. Bilastine is one of the company's proprietary products leading the Respiratory area, one of Faes Farma's major research fields.