27th Dec 2013 07:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC Friday said it has signed an extended licence agreement with Shionogi & Co. Ltd. for the sale of cholesterol-reducing drug Crestor, after settling an arbitration dispute over the calculation of royalties that the British company pays Shionogi.
The drug, a so-called statin, was developed by the Japanese company, which has licensed it globally to AstraZeneca.
In a statement, the British drugs giant said it has now resolved an arbitration dispute related to the treatment of certain excise taxes and other specific items in the calculation of royalties on Crestor sales. It didn't give any details.
It added that the two companies have also agreed to extend the licensing agreement. AstraZeneca will pay a reduced royalty rate in 2014-2016, but the agreement now runs until 2023.
AstraZeneca said the royalty rate has been reduced by a low single-digit number for 2014 to 2016, and sets a guaranteed fixed minimum annual royalty to Shionogi from 2014 until 2020 in the low hundreds of millions of dollars.
The success of Crestor is important for both companies. The cholesterol-reducing drug market is one of the fastest growing drug areas, and Crestor needs to mount a challenge to the biggest-selling drugs in the market, like Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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