31st Oct 2018 11:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC on Wednesday provided more information on its prescription medicine rights agreement with Grunenthal Group, including the book value of the assets.
On Tuesday, Astra announced that it had sold the European rights to Nexium for a maximum of USD790 million, and the global rights to Vimovo for up to USD132 million. The global rights sale excluded the US and Japan.
In its Wednesday update, Astra said the book value of the gross assets involved in the sale was approximately USD99 million as at December 31.
Astra added that in 2017 the aggregate pretax profit from both drugs, in the territories which have been sold, was USD203 million.
German pharma company Grunenthal is to buy the rights in cash, with Astra intending to use the proceeds for "general corporate purposes".
Nexium's active ingredient is esomeprazole, and it is used in patients with gastrointenstinal reflux, as well as to prevent gastric ulcers in patients taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications.
Vimovo combines esomeprazole with naproxen, a type of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, for use in patients with an elevated risk of developing ulcers.
Shares in AstraZeneca were up 1.5% at 6,032.00 pence on Wednesday.
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