30th Oct 2018 08:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Tuesday said it has divested regional prescription medicine rights for two of its drugs to German pharma company Grunenthal Group.
FTSE 100-listed Astra will sell the European rights to Nexium for an upfront payment of USD700 million with further sales-related and milestone payments of up to USD90 million.
Nexium is intended to reduce acid in patients with gastrointestinal reflux, and to prevent gastric ulcers in patients taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In the first half of the year, Nexim sales in Europe totalled USD121 million.
Furthermore, it will also sell the global rights to Vimovo - excluding the US and Japan - for an upfront payment of USD115 million and further payments up to another USD17 million.
Vimovo combines the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen with esomeprazole, the active ingredient in Nexium, for patients a risk of developing ulcers. Global Vimovo sales excluding the US and Japan in the first half of the year were USD37 million.
Astra will continue to commercialise Nexium outside of Europe and will continue to manufacture and supply the drug under a long-term supply agreement.
The basis for divestment is that the drugs fall outside of its focus on oncology, cardiovascular, renal & metabolism and respiratory development.
Mark Mallon, executive vice president of global product & portfolio strategy at Astra said: "The divestment agreements allow us to realise value from our successful medicines while redeploying our resources on developing innovative medicines for patients across our three main therapy areas, which we expect to drive growth for AstraZeneca."
Shore Capital analysts called the divestment "a sensible move", with Nexium having lost compound patent protection in the majority of its markets.
Shares in Astra were up 0.8% at 5,909.00 pence on Tuesday.
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