Croma-Pharma Announces 9-Country Licensing Agreement with Crescita Therapeutics for Pliaglis®

LEOBENDORF, Austria--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Croma-Pharma GmbH (“Croma”) today announced that it has entered into an exclusive commercialization development license agreement with Crescita Therapeutics (TSX: CTX and OTC US: CRRTF), a growth-oriented, innovation-driven Canadian commercial dermatology company, for the rights to Pliaglis^® in nine countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Brazil, Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (“Territories”).

Croma will promote Pliaglis^® directly to physicians through its sales network consisting of approximately 130 members across the Territories. As part of the agreement, Crescita is eligible to receive a combination of upfront, cumulative sales and other milestone payments that could reach €1.25 million over the term of the agreement with a potential for further cumulative sales milestones based on tranches of incremental sales. Crescita will be the sole supplier of Pliaglis^® under the agreement at a price per unit including a profit margin. Croma expects to launch Pliaglis^® in most of the Territories throughout 2022.

“We are looking forward to collaborating with Crescita, an innovation-driven dermatology company on Pliaglis^®, which perfectly complements our portfolio of aesthetic injectable products, right at a time when we are about to enter the market of pharmaceuticals. We are delighted to launch Pliaglis^® in some of our most important markets where it will certainly become an important pillar within Croma’s product family”, explains Croma’s Managing Director, Andreas Prinz.

“We are thrilled about our new partnership with Croma, a strong player in the international medical aesthetics space,” said Serge Verreault, President and CEO of Crescita. “This agreement is an important step forward as it not only allows us to expand our international footprint and secure future recurring revenue, but it also allows us to support customer access to Pliaglis^®, as we continue to see growth in minimally invasive aesthetic procedures globally,” added Mr. Verreault.

About Croma Pharma GmbH

Founded in 1976, Croma is an Austrian family-owned company that specializes in the industrial production of hyaluronic acid (“HA”) syringes for the fields of medical aesthetics, ophthalmology, and orthopaedics. Croma currently runs 12 international sales companies and distributes its products in more than 70 countries. Within its global sales network, Croma focuses on minimally invasive aesthetic medicine with its own branded products. Besides a broad range of HA fillers from its own production site, Croma markets polydioxanone (“PDO”) lifting threads, a Platelet Rich Plasma (“PRP”) system and a personalized skincare technology in its core strategic markets.

About Crescita Therapeutics Inc.

Crescita (TSX: CTX and OTC US: CRRTF) is a growth-oriented, innovation-driven Canadian commercial dermatology company with in-house R&D and manufacturing capabilities. The Company offers a portfolio of high-quality, science-based non-prescription skincare products and early to commercial stage prescription products. In addition, it owns multiple proprietary transdermal delivery platforms that support the development of patented formulations that facilitate the delivery of active ingredients into or through the skin. The non-prescription portfolio includes a wide variety of premium quality dermocosmetic products which include facial creams, cleansers, exfoliants, masks, serums and suncare, that each serve a different and personalized consumer need. The portfolio is designed to address preventive care to combating the first signs of aging, as well as all primary aesthetic skin concerns. The dermocosmetic products address two sub-sets of the skincare market: aesthetics and medical aesthetics. The national sales force calls on aesthetic practitioners and medical aesthetic clinics and medispas across Canada. In addition, the skincare brands are sold in certain Asian markets, such as Malaysia, South Korea and China through international distributors and various e-commerce platforms.

Crescita’s portfolio also includes Pliaglis^®, the lead prescription product, that utilizes their proprietary phase-changing topical cream Peel technology. Pliaglis^® is a topical local anesthetic cream that provides safe and effective local dermal analgesia on intact skin prior to superficial dermatological procedures. The product is currently approved in over 25 different countries, is sold by commercial partners in the U.S., Italy, Spain and Brazil, and was most recently licensed to commercial partners in Austria, Mexico and China. The company also market Pliaglis^® in the Canadian physician-dispensed skincare market through the existing sales force.

The company’s expertise in topical product formulation and development can be leveraged in combination with the patented transdermal delivery technologies to develop and manufacture creams, liquids, gels, ointments and serums under the contract development and manufacturing organization infrastructure. Crescita runs its operations from its head office located in the heart of the Biotech City in Laval, Québec, where the company also manufactures the majority of the non-prescription skincare products in its 50,000 square-foot facility.