Developing small, non-irritating and user-friendly products with excellent skin-adhesion are the main objectives for our TRANSDUR technology, which are major differentiating factors to patients and physicians that require a transdermally administered therapy.

Depending on the drug and its physiochemical properties, our TRANSDUR technology provides thin solid-state transdermal products that can deliver drugs, through the skin, at a controlled rate up to one week. TRANSDUR technology encompasses proprietary product components, which enable our scientists to expand the range of drugs that can be delivered transdermally. Transdermal products based on TRANSDUR technology can improve convenience and compliance as well as cost-effectiveness, and provide highly reliable therapy to patients and health care providers. Our TRANSDUR technology is the basis for our transdermal sufentanil patch product candidate under collaboration in the U.S. and Canadian markets with Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Our proprietary TRANSDUR-Sufentanil patch is a product under development for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain for once a week administration. Our sufentanil patch is a matrix-style transdermal patch that incorporates sufentanil, an opioid analgesic that is currently FDA approved for use in hospitals and the active agent in our CHRONOGESIC® product under development, to provide extended chronic pain relief for up to seven days, as compared to currently available three-day opioid patches. Also, the small size of the sufentanil patch, approximately onefifth the size of other currently available opioid patches, may offer significant patient benefits. The product is currently undergoing Phase II clinical testing.

Physicians that participated in DURECT’s market research on TRANSDUR-Sufentanil patch indicated that this product would represent a significant innovation over currently available transdermal pain relief therapies. Some of the expected product benefits include improved convenience and patient compliance, reduced skin irritation, cosmetic and quality of life improvements, improved patch adhesion and easier for high dose patients who require multiple transdermal patches.