Roxro Pharma

About Roxro Pharma

Roxro Pharma, Inc. operated as a specialty pharmaceutical company with a strategic focus on the pain management sector. Founded in 1999 and based in Menlo Park, California, the company pioneered a "virtual" business model, leveraging a global network of external experts for preclinical studies, clinical trials, and manufacturing. This approach allowed Roxro to efficiently in-license and develop promising drug candidates, particularly small-molecule compounds for acute pain that larger pharmaceutical firms had deprioritized. The company's revenue model was centered on advancing these compounds through the development pipeline to either market them directly or sublicense them for commercial distribution.

The company's most significant achievement was the development and FDA approval of SPRIX (ketorolac tromethamine) Nasal Spray. This product was an intranasal formulation of a potent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), designed to offer a non-opioid, non-invasive alternative for managing moderate to moderately severe acute pain, especially for ambulatory patients in a home setting. SPRIX addressed a critical gap by providing rapid pain relief, with its nasal spray formulation achieving peak blood levels as quickly as an intramuscular injection of ketorolac. The development pipeline also included other candidates like ROX-828 for headaches and ROX-818 for neuropathic pain. A key milestone for Roxro was securing $42.7 million in a Series B financing round in 2007, which supported the completion of Phase 3 trials for its lead compound. Following the FDA approval of SPRIX in May 2010, Roxro Pharma was acquired by Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, a US subsidiary of Daiichi Sankyo, in a binding merger agreement announced in December 2010.