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LONDON (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC said Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Spanish pharmaceutical company Almirall SA's respiratory franchise for an initial USD875 million.
The deal could be worth up to USD1.22 billion including development-, launch- and sales-related milestones, AstraZeneca said, and it also has agreed to make sales-related payments to Almirall. It will fund the transaction from existing cash resources and short term credit facilities.
AstraZeneca will acquire the rights to develop and commercialise the respiratory franchise, including rights to revenues from Almirall's existing partnerships and its pipeline of investigational therapies. Included in the deal is Eklira, also known as aclidinium, and LAS40464, a combination of aclidinium with formoterol which has been filed for registration in the EU and is being developed in the US, amongst others.
Almirall's development subsidiary for proprietary devices, Almirall Sofotec, will also transfer to AstraZeneca. Subject to consultation and legislation, a number of employees in the respiratory business are expected to transfer to AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca says the acquisition will give it immediate access to on-market revenues, which will contribute to its return to growth. The deal is expected to have a neutral effect on core earnings per share in 2015, it said, while adding to earnings from 2016.
The deal is subject to some competition law clearances. However, the companies expect it to be completed by the end of 2014. As a result, AstraZeneca said the acquisition would have no effect on its guidance for 2014.
The company also announced Wednesday that it will collaborate with Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co Ltd for a Phase I/Ib immuno-oncology study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of two combinations of three compounds on multiple solid tumours.
The study will combine AstraZeneca's MEDI4736 compound with Kyowa Hakko Kirin's compound mogamulizumab, and also AstraZeneca's tremelimumab compound with mogamulizumab.
Immunotherapies use the body's immune system to help fight cancer. MEDI4736 and tremelimumab work by blocking signals that help tumours avoid detection by the immune system. Mogamulizumab suppresses some immune cells that shield the tumour from the immune system.
Under the deal, the two companies will co-fund the study, which Kyowa Hakko Kirin will conduct. The Phase I part of the study is intended to establish a recommended dose regimen, and the Phase Ib study will test the safety and efficacy of the combinations.
"We believe that combination therapy in immuno-oncology has the potential to be one of the most effective ways of treating cancer. Our partnership with Kyowa Hakko Kirin provides the opportunity to explore two novel and exciting combinations," Briggs Morrison, executive vice president of global medicines development and chief medical officer of AstraZeneca said in a statement.
Shares in AstraZeneca were trading up 0.7% at 4,352.98 pence Wednesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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