Aratana Therapeutics Granted FDA Approval of NOCITA® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension)

LEAWOOD, Kan., Aug. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETX), a pet therapeutics company focused on the licensing, development and commercialization of innovative biopharmaceutical products for companion animals, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) approved NOCITA^® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) as a local post-operative analgesia for cranial cruciate ligament surgery in dogs. Aratana anticipates Nocita will be commercially available to veterinarians in the fall of 2016.

Nocita is a long-acting, local anesthetic that lasts up to 72 hours post-surgery by releasing bupivacaine over time from multi-vesicular liposomes deposited in the tissue. The therapeutic is administered as a single dose by tissue infiltration during closure of cranial cruciate ligament surgery in dogs.

"We believe Nocita will help transform the way veterinarians control post-operative pain for dogs undergoing cranial cruciate ligament surgery," states Steven St. Peter, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Aratana Therapeutics. "As our third FDA-approved therapeutic this year, we are pivoting our attention to successfully bringing these therapeutics to market over the coming months."

Important Safety Information
NOCITA^® (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) is for use in dogs only. Do not use in dogs younger than 5 months of age, dogs used for breeding, or in pregnant or lactating dogs. Do not administer by intravenous or intra-arterial injection. Adverse reactions in dogs may include discharge from incision, incisional inflammation and vomiting. Avoid concurrent use with bupivacaine HCI, lidocaine or other amide local anesthetics. Please see the full Prescribing Information.

About Aratana Therapeutics
Aratana Therapeutics is a pet therapeutics company focused on licensing, developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products for dogs and cats. Aratana believes that it can leverage the investment in the human pharmaceutical industry to bring therapeutics to pets in a capital and time efficient manner. The Company has multiple products approved by the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine or licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture. The Company's pipeline includes therapeutic candidates targeting pain, inappetence, cancer, viral diseases, allergy and other serious, unmet or underserved medical needs.  Aratana believes providing innovative options to veterinarians and pet owners will help manage pets' medical needs safely and effectively, resulting in longer and improved quality of life for pets. For more information, please visit www.aratana.com.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements with respect to our ability to bring several innovative products to market; expectations regarding the timing or scope of commercialization of Nocita; our belief that Nocita will transform the way veterinarians control post-operative pain for dogs; and statements regarding the Company's plans and opportunities, including without limitation offering innovative therapeutics that help manage pet's medical needs safely and effectively and that result in longer and improved quality of life for pets.

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our history of operating losses and our expectation that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future; failure to obtain sufficient capital to fund our operations; risks relating to the impairment of intangible assets AT-004, AT-005, AT-007 and AT-011; unstable market and economic conditions; restrictions on our financial flexibility due to the terms of our credit facility; our substantial dependence upon the success of our product candidates; development of our biologic product candidates is dependent upon relatively novel technologies and uncertain regulatory pathways, and biologics may not be commercially viable; denial or delay of regulatory approval for our existing or future product candidates; failure of our product candidates that receive regulatory approval to obtain market approval or achieve commercial success; failure to realize anticipated benefits of our acquisitions and difficulties associated with integrating the acquired businesses; development of pet therapeutics is a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome; competition in the pet therapeutics market, including from generic alternatives to our product candidates, and failure to compete effectively; failure to identify, license or acquire, develop and commercialize additional product candidates; failure to attract and retain senior management and key scientific personnel; our reliance on third-party manufacturers, suppliers and partners; regulatory restrictions on the marketing of our product candidates; our small commercial sales organization, and any failure to create a sales force or collaborate with third-parties to commercialize our product candidates; difficulties in managing the growth of our company; significant costs of being a public company; risks related to the restatement of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2013, and the identification of a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting; changes in distribution channels for pet therapeutics; consolidation of our veterinarian customers; limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards; impacts of generic products; safety or efficacy concerns with respect to our product candidates; effects of system failures or security breaches; failure to obtain ownership of issued patents covering our product candidates or failure to prosecute or enforce licensed patents; failure to comply with our obligations under our license agreements; effects of patent or other intellectual property lawsuits; failure to protect our intellectual property; changing patent laws and regulations; non-compliance with any legal or regulatory requirements; litigation resulting from the misuse of our confidential information; the uncertainty of the regulatory approval process and the costs associated with government regulation of our product candidates; failure to obtain regulatory approvals in foreign jurisdictions; effects of legislative or regulatory reform with respect to pet therapeutics; the volatility of the price of our common stock; our status as an emerging growth company, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors; dilution of our common stock as a result of future financings; the influence of certain significant stockholders over our business; and provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could delay or prevent a change in control. These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on March 15, 2016, along with our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Contacts
For investor inquires:
Craig Tooman
[email protected] 
(913) 353-1026

For media inquiries: 
Rachel Reiff
[email protected]
(913) 353-1050

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SOURCE Aratana Therapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aratana.com