Executive Interview – Titan Pharmaceuticals

Titan Pharmaceuticals is a speciality pharmaceutical company that has developed ProNeura, a subdermal implant that can elute a drug continuously over a six-month to one-year period. In May, the company received approval from the FDA for the first drug using this platform, Probuphine, which releases buprenorphine over six months for the treatment of opiate dependence. The US buprenorphine market is approximately $2bn and dominated with sublinqual formulations that produce less consistent blood levels of the drug and are the subject of diversion and abuse. Probuphine is commercialized by Braeburn Pharmaceuticals in the US and Canada, and Titan is entitled to $165m in sales-based milestones and tiered royalties in the mid-teens to low twenties. The company is also developing a ropinirole-eluting implant for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and a triiodothyronine (T3) implant for the treatment of hypothyroidism, which are expected to enter the clinic in Q416 and H217 respectively.