AstraZeneca completes respiratory deal with Actavis
pharmafile | March 3, 2015 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Actavis, AstraZeneca, COPD, Daliresp, Tudorza Pressair, aclidinium bromide inhalation powder, respiratory, roflumilast
AstraZeneca has completed its acquisition of Dublin-headquartered firm Actavis with its branded respiratory portfolio deal worth $700 million.
The agreement sees AZ take on the rights to Actavis’ respiratory business in the US and Canada and builds on the takeover of Spanish company Almirall’s comparable portfolio in 2014.
Today’s completed deal includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) drugs Daliresp (roflumilast) and Tudorza Pressair (aclidinium bromide inhalation powder) – two products with combined annual sales in the US of approximately $230 million in 2014.
Both companies have just seen their combo ‘superbug’ drug Avycaz (ceftazidime/avibactam) shown the green light to treat patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI).
AstraZeneca has also obtained the development and commercial rights to COPD inhaler Duaklir Genuair (formoterol fumarate dihydrate/aclidinium bromide), an EU-approved treatment for adult patients with the chronic disease.
On top of the agreed fee of $600 million AZ has also forked out a further $100 million for a number of contractual consents and approvals. The deal increases the firm’s respiratory portfolio and will also look to boost its income for this year after the company recorded a dip in revenue in the last part of 2014.
Financial reports for AZ’s fourth-quarter for the year reported a fall in revenue of 2% to $6.7 billion compared to the same period in 2013.
In addition to this most recent deal the UK’s second-largest pharma firm also dug deep to takeover Bristol-Myers Squibb’s stake in its diabetes business for $4.3 billion in 2013.
The buyout included blockbuster treatment Onglyza (saxagliptin), which last year became the first DPP-4 inhibitor to be given the green light by the Scottish Medicines Consortium to be used with insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The agreement also saw around 4,100 BMS employees dedicated to the diabetes business move over to AstraZeneca.
Tom Robinson
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