AstraZeneca sells two COPD drugs to a familiar partner as Pascal Soriot's oncology push marches on

01 Nov 2021
endpts.com
Generic Drug
As CEO Pascal Soriot continues his long-running pivot toward oncology, AstraZeneca is offloading another pair of respiratory drugs. The drugmaker is selling off two medicines containing the active ingredient aclidinium bromide to Covis Pharma Group, the companies announced Monday morning, and receiving $270 million in return. Covis will also cover ongoing development costs for the drugs, which are marketed as Tudorza and Duaklir in the US. Both medicines treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and are delivered using the same device. Tudorza was first approved by the FDA in 2012 and Duaklir in 2019. The meds brought in a combined $143 million in sales last year, AstraZeneca said. Soriot has made oncology AstraZeneca’s new R&D mission as his company continues to push high-profile cancer drugs such as Tagrisso and Imfinzi. The former is AstraZeneca’s best-selling blockbuster, having brought in nearly $2.5 billion in sales in the first half of 2021. Imfinzi didn’t do too bad itself, however, bringing in $1.16 billion. But such an evolution ostensibly requires some small sacrifices, as Soriot has engaged in numerous divestitures in recent years. Most notably, AstraZeneca bid farewell to its one-time megablockbuster Crestor last December, selling rights to German firm Grünenthal for $320 million upfront and $30 million in milestones. That price couldn’t hold a candle to the drug’s former peak sales, when Crestor tallied $6.6 billion in 2011 and $5 billion as recently as 2015. But generics had sharply cut into Crestor sales by 2016, with AstraZeneca failing to block FDA approval in a last-ditch court effort. AstraZeneca had also sold two heart failure and hypertension drugs, Atacand and Atacand Plus, to Cheplapharm for $400 million in October 2020. AstraZeneca’s patents for the drugs in Monday’s deal don’t expire until 2029, according to a public records search of the FDA’s Orange Book, but it’s not clear when their market exclusivity ends. It’s also not the first time Covis has acquired drugs from the big British-Swedish pharma company. In November 2018, AstraZeneca gave Covis global rights to three respiratory drugs for $350 million after selling US rights a year earlier. The drugs were Alvesco, a maintenance therapy for asthma, and Omnaris and Zetonna, nasal sprays for seasonal and perennial rhinitis. The moves fit into Covis’ larger strategy of acquiring several brand name and generic drugs from major biopharmas, as the Swiss firm now says it’s a top 10 global respiratory company. Though the earlier AstraZeneca deal had brought Covis’ only such drugs before Monday’s deal, its portfolio also includes the heartburn drug Prilosec, the cholesterol med Altoprev and the ALS generic drug riluzole.
Organizations
Indications
Targets
-
Drugs
Get started for free today!
Accelerate Strategic R&D decision making with Synapse, PatSnap’s AI-powered Connected Innovation Intelligence Platform Built for Life Sciences Professionals.
Start your data trial now!
Synapse data is also accessible to external entities via APIs or data packages. Leverages most recent intelligence information, enabling fullest potential.