Korea Pharma said Wednesday that it has signed a deal with a U.K. pharmaceutical company, Shield Therapeutics, to exclusively supply the latter's oral iron deficiency anemia therapy Accrufer (ingredient: ferric maltol) in Korea.

Accrufer received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency, gaining recognition for its excellent efficacy and safety. Anemia is a common symptom found in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and chronic kidney disease. Patients require early treatment as it could raise the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease.

Existing oral anemia treatments caused side effects, including gastrointestinal disorders and constipation, often forcing patients to switch the medicines to injections. However, intravenous iron therapy has a significant downside as patients must take them one to three times a week.

Shield Therapeutics' Accrufer is a treatment that overcame such side effects with easy administration as an oral formulation, according to Korea Pharma.

The medicine is a non-salt formulation of ferric maltol without side effects such as gastrointestinal disorders and constipation. The AEGIS-H2H study results published in 2019 showed that Accrufer did not require additional administration of intravenous iron preparations.

The Korean company believes Accrufer to change the paradigm of iron deficiency anemia treatment with a lower economic burden and improved patient compliance.

"Korea Pharma is a company with excellent development skill and marketing capabilities," Shield Therapeutics CEO Greg Madison said. "Patients with iron deficiency anemia in Korea will be able to receive improved therapy with the recently signed agreement for the exclusive supply of Accrufer."

Korea Pharma CEO Park Eun-hee also said, "We are very excited to provide the best therapeutic option for the iron deficiency for Korean patients."

In 2018, Korea Pharma signed an agreement with Norgine, a Dutch company, to exclusively supply polyethylene glycol (PEG) based bowel preparation used to cleanse the bowel.