Developing and commercializing non-opioid approaches to treat pain
Frazier Life Sciences originally invested in Semnur Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceuticals company advancing novel non-opioid therapeutics for patients with chronic back pain. In 2019, Semnur merged with Scilex, a majority owned subsidiary of Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRNE). Scilex’s lead product is ZTlido 1.8%, a lidocaine topical delivery system which has been approved by the U.S. FDA to treat post-herpetic neuralgia. Scilex launched ZTLido in Q4 2018. Scilex is also developing SP-102, a non-opioid corticosteroid gel developed at Semnur, which is currently in Phase 3 pivotal studies for the treatment of lumbar radicular pain/sciatica and which has also been granted Fast Track status from the FDA.
