The story
Initially developed at the University of Groningen in 1985 as N-0437, Aderis Pharmaceuticals acquired rotigotine and continued development toward commercialization. In 1998, Aderis globally out-licensed rotigotine for development and commercialization to Schwarz Pharma, which firm was acquired by UCB S.A. in 2006. Schwarz completed acquisition of full rights to rotigotine from Aderis as of 2005.
The drug was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for use in Europe in 2006. In 2007, the Neupro patch was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It became the first transdermal treatment of Parkinson's disease in the United States. In 2008, Schwarz Pharma recalled all Neupro patches in the United States and some in Europe because of problems with the delivery mechanism. FDA also suspended its marketing authorization after crystal formation was noted in some patches. The patch was reformulated, and was reintroduced in the United States in 2012.
Rotigotine was authorized as a treatment for restless legs syndrome in the European Union in August 2008.
From Wikipedia’s article on Aderis Pharmaceuticals, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3