Italian pharmaceutical group Sigma-Tau has created a new US subsidiary, Sigma-Tau US, which will group together its three separate North American businesses for the first time.
The Rome-based group began operations in the US in 1989, and has three units there - Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, Sigma-Tau HealthScience and Sigma-Tau Research.
The US operations are involved in Sigma-Tau's core business - research and development into the effect of carnitine on cellular metabolism and the provision of pharmaceutical-quality carnitine that is not genetically modified. The company claims to be the world leader in carnitine and metabolic research.
Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals is primarily dedicated to the development and production of orphan drugs for small numbers of patients whose pharmaceutical needs might not otherwise be met. Its products include Carnitor, an FDA-approved treatment for carnitine deficiency in dialysis patients and patients with inborn metabolic disorders, but it is also developing other orphan drug treatments such as Cysteamine Eye Drops, used to treat the crystals that form in the eyes of cystinosis patients.
Sigma-Tau HealthScience has two divisions - consumer products (focusing on dietary supplements and nutritional foods) and fine chemicals. The consumer products' division's flagship product is Proxeed, a dietary supplement with nutrients that are clinically proven to help optimise a man's reproductive health. The fine chemicals division supplies Biosint Carnitines to some of the world's leading nutritional supplement, medical foods, food and infant formula companies.
Sigma-Tau Research is developing a series of compounds, in a variety of clinical indications for the US market, including acetyl-L-carnitine for treatment of both Alzheimer's disease and peripheral diabetic neuropathy.