Elite Pharmaceuticals Completes Construction of New Manufacturing Plant

Elite Pharmaceuticals Inc. has completed construction and equipment installation in its manufacturing facility in Northvale, NJ. The facility will manufacture pharmaceutical products in sufficient quantities necessary to obtain FDA approval.

In other news, Elite's Atul M. Mehta was recently issued a U.S. patent (No. 5,837,284) related to pulse dose methylphenidate products. The patent was exclusively licensed to Celgene Corp. (Warren, NJ), who then licensed the product to Novartis (see related article). Elite retains certain manufacturing rights for the patented product—which simulates two doses of the drug marketed as Ritalin—and also retained rights to its pulse dose technology as it relates to all non-methylphenidate drugs.

Elite specializes in the development of oral drug delivery products, including delayed release, sustained release, targeted release, pulse dose, and other controlled release formulations, including taste masking.

For more information: Sharon Will, Elite Pharmaceuticals Inc., 165 Ludlow Ave., Northvale, NJ 07647. Tel: 212-572-0762. Fax: 212-572-0764.

Edited by Jim Pomager