Transcept grants Intermezzo rights to Purdue Pharma

Transcept Pharmaceuticals (neurology), which reverse merged with Novacea last September to go public, has signed its first commercialization agreement: it is licensing pain-focused Purdue Pharma and an undisclosed affiliate exclusive US rights to Intermezzo, a low-dose version of zolpidem (in higher doses, the drug is sold under the brand Ambien) that has the potential to be the first-ever prescribed product for middle-of-the-night awakenings for insomnia patients. Purdue has the right to negotiate a license for Canada and Mexico.