AstraZeneca secures respiratory drugs from Almirall
pharmafile | July 30, 2014 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Almirall, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Symbicort, lung drugs
AstraZeneca has paid $875 million to take control of Alimirall’s respiratory drug portfolio that includes treatments for bronchitis and emphysema.
AZ could in fact end up paying as much as $1.22 billion on top of the $875 million for the Spanish firm’s lung drugs in relation to development, launch, and sales-related milestones as well as various sales-related payments.
When the deal is completed later this year, AZ will own the rights to drugs in various stages of clinical development. It will also gain the rights to Eklira, a marketed treatment for smoking-related diseases such as bronchitis and emphysema, which recorded $112 million in sales in 2013 and made up 12% of Almirall’s revenue.
Almirall is also applying for US approval to market a combination of Eklira with formoterol, developed with partner Forest Laboratories (who were taken over by Actavis this month). Although the combination is approved in Europe, US regulators asked for additional data.
Almirall Sofotec, a subsidiary of the firm focussed on the development of proprietary medical devices, will also transfer to AstraZeneca, as will most of its staff, the companies say in a statement.
AZ expects the transaction to be neutral to its core EPS in 2015 and accretive from 2016. The transaction will have no impact on AstraZeneca’s guidance for 2014, according to the company, given that it won’t go through until the end of the year.
The purchase Almirall’s will also further strengthen AstraZeneca’s respiratory portfolio, according to the firm, which includes Symbicort and Pulmicort, as well as the company’s investigational medicines currently in clinical development.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, says: “Our agreement with Almirall brings strategic and long-term value to AstraZeneca’s strong respiratory franchise, one of our key growth platforms. We will benefit from immediate and growing product revenues which we anticipate will be rapidly accretive to earnings.
“By combining our innovative portfolios and leveraging AstraZeneca’s global scientific and commercial capabilities, we will strengthen our ability to address the entire spectrum of care in asthma and COPD. I very much look forward to welcoming the Almirall people to our company.”
Jorge Gallardo, president of Almirall, adds: “This important agreement allows us to better develop our assets and expertise in respiratory with AstraZeneca, an experienced player in this therapeutic area. It also allows us to better balance the costs, risks and returns of the respiratory business while retaining an important economic interest in its future success.”
This comes several months after AZ rebuffed a $118 billion takeover bid from Pfizer, and just ahead of the release of its second quarter results. The company has said that it wants to pursue a business strategy independent of Pfizer, and deals such as this are evidence of that desire.
Pfizer could however make another bid for the firm as soon as next month if AZ’s shareholders are willing to discuss a deal. If not, the US giant would need to wait until November to make another formal bid under UK business merger rules.
Ben Adams
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