AFT Pharmaceuticals announced it has signed an exclusive licensing and distribution agreement for Maxigesic IV, the intravenous form of its patented pain relief medicine, for nine countries in Eastern Europe. The agreement - with Slovenia's Salus Pharmaceuticals - will see Maxigesic sold in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia. Registrations are already held in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Croatia and Slovenia, where launches are planned for these countries during this year and registration applications will be filed in the remainder.

The agreement follows hard on the heels of the launch of Maxigesic IV in two major EU markets, France and Italy (with Germany's Everpharm GmbH) in November. Maxigesic IV (Paracetamol 1,000mg + Ibuprofen 300mg solution for infusion) is a patented intravenous formulation developed as a line extension to Maxigesic tablets, for use post-operatively in hospitals and when patients cannot take a medicine orally. A major Phase 3 clinical trial conducted in the USA found that Maxigesic IV provided significantly better pain relief than either paracetamol (acetaminophen) IV or ibuprofen IV alone in the same doses .

Further recently completed exposure trials have demonstrated the drug's efficacy and safety in an expanded population group over a longer treatment period.