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(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Tuesday said it has agreed to sublicence the global rights to Movantik to RedHill Biopharma Ltd for USD67.5 million.
Movantik is indicated as a treatment for opioid-induced constipation. Redhill will pay Astra USD52.5 million upfront for the global rights - excluding Israel, Canada, and Europe - to the drug when the deal closes, plus another USD15 million non-contingent payment in 2021.
During the transition period, Astra will keep manufacturing and supplying Movantik, the brand name for naloxegol, to RedHill.
Pharmaceutical major Astra entered a US co-commercialisation agreement for Movantik with Daiichi Sankyo Inc in 2015, which Astra will transfer to RedHill. Movantik generated USD96 million worth of sales in the US in 2019.
The divestment is set to complete in the first quarter of 2020, provided the "customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances" are met. It will not alter Astra's 2020 guidance.
Ruud Dobbe, executive vice president of Astra's BioPharmaceuticals Business Unit, said: "This divestment supports our strategy to realise value from medicines in our portfolio that are mature or outside our current scope to enable reinvestment in our main therapy areas. Movantik is an important established medicine and the divestment to RedHill will ensure its continued availability for patients."
Shares in Astra were down 0.2% at 7,431.00 pence in London on Tuesday morning.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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