October 4, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – Shares of Aralez Pharmaceuticals are up nearly 8 percent this morning after the company struck a deal with London-based AstraZeneca to acquire the U.S. rights to the beta-blocker Toprol-XL and its authorized generic.
Under terms of the deal, Aralez will provide AstraZeneca an upfront payment of $175 million. The transaction also includes “mid-teen percentage royalties and up to $48 million of potential contingent milestone payments” to AstraZeneca, the company said.
Aralez said the acquisition of Toprol-XL and the authorized generic should accelerate its profitability goals, as well as broaden its cardiovascular portfolio, which includes Fibricor, Yosprala and the recently acquired Zontivity, Adrian Adams, chief executive officer of Aralez said in a statement.
“This transaction further reflects our ability to deliver against the expectations that we set upon the formation of Aralez that included promoting Fibricor, approval and commercialization of Yosprala and seizing opportunities to expand through aggressive business development and licensing as evidenced by our recent acquisition of Zontivity and now Toprol-XL,” Adams added.
Toprol-XL, a cardioselective beta-blocker, is used for the treatment of hypertension alone or in combination with other antihypertensives. The drug is also used for the long-term treatment of angina pectoris, as well as the treatment of stable, symptomatic (NYHA class II or III) heart failure of specific origins.
Combined sales of Toprol_XL and its authorized generic generated $89 million in 2015 and so far in 2016 has generated $53 million, Aralez said in a statement.
Aralez said it anticipates the deal for the drugs to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2016. When the deal is finalized, AstraZeneca will continue to manufacture and supply Toprol-XL and the AG to Aralez for at least 10 years, the company said in a statement. AstraZeneca will also continue to distribute the product on behalf of Aralez for up to nine months until the product is transferred to Aralez Pharmaceuticals.
Aralez said it intends to finance the deal through a “previously committed senior secured debt facility with Deerfield Management.” Additionally, Aralex said at closing of the deal, the company will also borrow funds from its creditor to “replenish $25 million that was paid from cash on hand in connection with the recently announced Zontividty acquisition.”
Aralez was formed last year with the merger of Pozen, Inc. and Tribute Pharmaceuticals. Yosprala launched Monday after it was approved by federal regulators. Yosprala is the company’s “safer aspirin” product that contains either 325 mg or 81 mg of enteric-coated aspirin surrounded by 40 mg of immediate release omeprazole. The drug is a treatment for patients who require aspirin for secondary prevention of cardiovascular (CV) and cerebrovascular events and who are at risk of developing aspirin associated gastric ulcers.
Shares of Aralez are hit a high of $5.79 this morning, although that has fallen off to $5.33 per share as of 11:05 a.m.
