July 9, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
AstraZeneca struck a $215 million deal to sell global rights to its gastrointestinal drug Entocort to Swiss-based Tillotts Pharma AG, part of the Zeria Group.
The deal will allow British-drugmaker AstraZeneca to fill a short-term revenue gap, caused in part older drugs in the company’s pipeline facing increased competition from generics. The deal is expected to be completed sometime later this year. AstraZeneca said it does not expect the divestment of the drug to have a negative impact on projected earnings.
In a statement Luke Miels, AstraZeneca’s global product and portfolio vice president, said the agreement with Tillotts reinforces AstraZeneca’s strategic focus on selected therapy areas. He said the Entocort deal puts this “important medicine in the hands of a company with specialist expertise in gastroenterology, which will benefit patients.”
Under terms of the agreement Tillotts will pay AstraZeneca $215 million for rights to market and manufacture Entocort, both in capsule and enema form, outside of the United States. Sales of Entocort were $53 million outside of the United States in 2014. The deal does not include the transfer of any AstraZeneca employees or facilities, Tillotts said.
Entocort is a locally-acting glucocorticosteroid, currently approved in more than 40 countries for the treatment of Crohn’s disease and, in some markets, ulcerative colitis, which are both types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Thomas A. Tóth von Kiskér, chief executive officer of Tillotts, said the acquisition of Entocort will complement their drug Asacol, an oral treatment for ulcerative colitis.
“This agreement underscores our commitment to continue to position Tillotts as a leading European specialist in the field of gastroenterology, offering patients a wide range of treatments for the GI tract,” von Kiskér said in a statement.
Tillotts said it plans to expand sales of Entocort to Japan and other countries where it is not currently marketed. RTT News reported a regulatory submission for Entocort in Japan is anticipated in the coming months.
“Adding Entocort to our portfolio will greatly enhance Tillotts’ ability to compete in Europe and globally for further licensing deals and acquisitions,” Dirk Reckert, chef business development officer at Tillotts, said in a statement.
Last month Tillotts struck a deal with Numab AG to develop and commercialize new antibody-based therapies that act against tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) for people with inflammatory bowel disease. Tillotts will develop and commercialize new formulations of anti-TNF- antibody fragments identified by Numab. Numab is eligible to a signing fee and, upon successful development, will receive down- and milestone payments, as well as royalties up to double-digits, according to the terms of that particular deal.
This isn’t the first deal AstraZeneca struck with another pharmaceutical company this year to divest itself of a flagging drug. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told Reuters that spinning off drugs such as Entocort will “help the company’s finances and allow it to invest for the future.” One recent deal example was struck with Celgene in April. The two pharma companies entered into a collaborative agreement with AstraZeneca that will allow the U.S.-based drug firm to develop MEDI4736, AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy treatment for blood cancer.
Under the terms of the deal, Celgene will be responsible for selling MEDI4736 in blood cancers and will pay AstraZeneca an initial royalty of 70 percent, which will decrease to approximately half of sales over a period of four years. Celgene will also be responsible for global commercialization of approved treatments. AstraZeneca will continue to manufacture and book all sales of MEDI4736 and will pay a royalty to Celgene on worldwide sales in hematological indications.
Other recent drug divestments by AstraZeneca include a deal with Eli Lilly for an Alzheimer’s treatment and a deal worth more than $800 million with Daiichi Sankyo to develop Movantik, a constipation treatment for cancer patients.
As New Jersey Biotech Booms, Will It Overtake Other States As Prime Location?
A week after Celgene Corporation announced it is officially the mystery buyer of Merck & Co. ’s former 1 million-square-foot R&D site in Summit, N.J., it quickly became our most popular story last week.
The company announced last Wednesday that it is buying the space, ending months of speculation about what Big Pharma company might move into the neighborhood.
The Summit, N.J. site is zoned research/office. The New Jersey site would put operations closer to some of the major biotech and pharmaceutical hubs on the East Coast.
But, by far, the most tempting part of doing business in the state remains New Jersey’s operating tax credit, which allows companies to sell their net operating losses to the New Jersey Treasury. One of the state’s most recognizable biotechs, Celgene, used the program until it became profitable, which was key to it staying in the state, said local officials.
That has BioSpace is wondering if New Jersey is becoming the new face of biotech. What do you think? Can the Garden State compete with other longtime stalwarts like California or Boston?
