Apricus Bio Announces First Patent Grant for Femprox® In Japan

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apricus Biosciences, Inc., (“Apricus Bio”) (Nasdaq: APRI) backed by a revenue generating CRO business and seeking to leverage its multi-route NexACT^® drug delivery technology and internal pipeline through out-licensing partnerships, today announced that the Japanese Patent Office has issued a Decision to Grant a Patent for the Company’s application on Femprox entitled, “Compositions and Methods for Amelioration of Human Female Sexual Dysfunction.” This patent, when issued, will provide Japanese patent protection to December 2019, and is one in a series of patents and pending applications that Apricus Bio owns on Femprox and the underlying NexACT technology.

“We are very pleased with our first patent allowance for Femprox in Japan. We continue to aggressively pursue intellectual property (“IP”

Commenting on today’s news, Dr. Bassam Damaj, President and Chief Executive Officer of Apricus Bio, stated, “We are very pleased with our first patent allowance for Femprox in Japan. We continue to aggressively pursue intellectual property (“IP”) coverage for our technology and product candidates under development and this allowance adds to the strength of our overall IP position. In addition to the newly allowed claims in Japan, we have corresponding coverage and protection for Femprox in many other major international markets. The advancement of our patent portfolio comes at an optimal time, as we are in active discussions with potential partners to out-license Femprox.”

Femprox is an alprostadil-based cream intended for the treatment of female sexual arousal disorder. Apricus has completed nine clinical studies to date, including one, 98-patient Phase 2 study in the U.S. and a 400-patient proof-of-concept Phase 2/3 study in China, where the cost for conducting clinical studies was significantly lower than in the U.S.

About Apricus Biosciences

Backed by NexMed, USA and Bio-Quant, Inc., its revenue generating CRO business, Apricus Bio has leveraged the flexibility of its proven NexACT^® drug delivery technology to enable multi-route administration of new and improved compounds across numerous therapeutic classes. Future growth is expected to be driven primarily through out-licensing of this technology for the development and commercialization of such compounds to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, worldwide. Concurrently, the Company is seeking to monetize its existing product pipeline, including compounds from pre-clinical through Phase 3, currently focused on dermatology, sexual dysfunction and cancer. For further information on Apricus Bio and its subsidiaries, visit http://www.apricusbio.com.

Forward-Looking Statement Safe Harbor

Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company, including but not limited to, its ability to obtain and/or enforce patent coverage in major markets and the Company’s ability to successfully enter into partnership agreements for its product candidates and platform technology. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are urged to read the Risk Factors set forth in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which contain these and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from the expected results expressed through forward-looking statements.