29th Feb 2016 13:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC on Monday said it has reached a commercial licensing deal in China and said a trial on its tremelimumab product as a monotherapy for treating mesothelioma missed its primary endpoint.
Astra said it has entered a licensing deal with China Medical Systems Holdings Ltd for the commercial rights to its Plendil calcium channel blocker.
Plendil was first approved in China for the treatment of hypertension or high blood pressure in 1995, and product sales hit USD189.0 million in 2015.
China Medical Systems will pay AstraZeneca USD310.0 million for the licence to sell the drug in China, with AstraZeneca to retain a significant, long-term interest in the product and to manufacture and supply the medicine to China Medical Systems.
"This commercial collaboration supports our strategy of working with a local partner to maximise the value from our medicines in China, our second largest market globally. The agreement ensures widespread patient access to an established medicine and continued long-term revenues, while focusing our resources on commercialising innovative new medicines from our pipeline across our main therapy areas," said Mark Mallon, AstraZeneca's executive vice-president of international.
Also Monday, AstraZeneca said its phase IIb clinical trial on tremelimumab as a monotherapy treatment for mesothelioma missed its primary endpoint for overall survival rates.
The company was trialling the drug as a second or third-line treatment for the disease.
Shares in AstraZeneca were down 1.8% to 4,127.00 pence Monday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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