Cycle Pharmaceuticals & Catalent Partner to Develop Treatments for Rare Diseases


Cycle Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Cycle) has recently signed an agreement with Catalent, Inc. to develop innovative formulations targeting rare disease patients. This agreement covers four products in rare metabolic and neurological disorders and each product will utilize Catalent’s Zydis oral disintegrating tablet (ODT) and Zydis Ultra technologies.

Zydis technology is recognized as one of the world’s best performing ODTs, and has well-established advantages over conventional oral dosage forms, including improved patient compliance, adherence and convenience. The Zydis Ultra platform is the company’s next generation ODT technology and allows for increased drug load and better taste masking to be incorporated into its proven Zydis ODT dosage form.

Commenting on the agreement, Antonio Benedetti, CEO of Cycle said, “Cycle’s core area of expertise is to improve rare disease medicines in order to make life easier for patients of all ages.  These drug products will benefit patients with a broad range of unmet needs.  Zydis technology has consistently proven its effectiveness in overcoming challenges faced by patients, such as swallowing difficulties and large pill burdens.  Working in partnership with Catalent to apply the Zydis technology to Cycle’s product pipeline will be life-changing for both patients and their caregivers.”

Jonathan Arnold, President of Catalent’s Oral Drug Delivery business, added “Catalent has proven experience and expertise in drug formulation and working with partners to bring new therapies to market quickly. The Zydis technology platform has been shown to be very versatile and effective in developing easy-to-administer dose forms for innovators, and having evaluated Cycle’s molecules at our Swindon, U.K., facility, we believe them to be excellent candidates for further development.”

Cycle is a pioneering pharmaceutical company, reimagining how drugs can benefit patients to make their lives easier and improve their quality of life at every stage. Specifically, Cycle focuses on three areas of pharmaceutical development:

-Improving orphan drugs, which treat the under-served rare disease patient community;

-Repurposing drugs – creating a new indication for an already existing drug; and

-Generics – reinstating generic drugs previously available in the market

With Headquarters in Cambridge, UK, and offices in Boston, MA, Cycle has developed unique partnerships with renowned universities around the world. For more information, visit www.cyclepharma.com

Catalent is the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, gene therapies, and consumer health products. With over 85 years serving the industry, Catalent has proven expertise in bringing more customer products to market faster, enhancing product performance and ensuring reliable clinical and commercial product supply. Catalent employs nearly 13,000 people, including approximately 2,400 scientists and technicians, at more than 35 facilities, and in fiscal year 2019 generated over $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Catalent is headquartered in Somerset (NJ), U.S. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.