PALATINE, Ill. — Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc. has entered into a licensing pact that grants exclusive U.S. and Canadian marketing rights to its Nexafed and Nexafed Sinus abuse-resistant decongestant products to MainPointe Pharmaceuticals LLC.

Acura said Friday that MainPointe will assume all manufacturing and commercialization activities for the two products. The agreement includes an upfront cash payment of $2.5 million to Acura, which also is eligible to receive a royalty 7.5% based on commercial sales by MainPointe.

“MainPointe is an emerging OTC pharmaceutical company that brings added leverage to our Nexafed business,” stated Bob Jones, president and chief executive officer of Acura Pharmaceuticals. “With additional products in distribution and new customer contacts, MainPointe is well-positioned to expand on the U.S. pharmacy distribution achieved by Acura over the past several years.”

Containing pseudoephedrine (PSE), Nexafed employs Acura’s Impede technology to thwart the illicit production of methamphetamine, known as “meth,” which remains a growing problem nationwide. If abusers try to extract the PSE out of Nexafed to make meth, the inactive ingredients in the polymer matrix will form a thick gel to block the extraction and disrupt conversion of PSE to methamphetamine.

“Conversion of pseudoephedrine products into methamphetamine remains an acute problem in many communities,” stated John Schutte, chairman and CEO of MainPointe. “The Nexafed products have proven to be a success in curbing this costly problem, and we look forward to driving this business forward.”

In June 2015, Acura had announced an agreement to license the Impede technology to Bayer Healthcare LLC for use in future products.