AstraZeneca offloads rights to Eklira and Duaklir

AstraZeneca has agreed to transfer its global rights to ‘Eklira’, or aclidinium bromide, and ‘Duaklir’, or aclidinium bromide with formoterol, to Covis Pharma Group, it announced on Monday.

The FTSE 100 drugmaker said Covis would pay $270m on completion, and would also cover certain ongoing development costs related to the medicines.

It said the income arising from the upfront payment would be fully offset by a charge for derecognition of the associated intangible asset, and thus no other operating income would be recognised in AstraZeneca's financial statements.

In 2020, Eklira and Duaklir generated revenue of $143m for AstraZeneca in the countries covered by the agreement.

Both medicines were delivered via the Genuair device, and used for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The company said the agreement would ensure continued patient access to the established medicines, noting that Covis previously acquired the rights to the respiratory medicines ‘Alvesco’, ‘Omnaris’ and ‘Zetonna’ from AstraZeneca in 2018.

The transaction was expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances, with the agreement not expected to impact the company's financial guidance for 2021.

“Eklira and Duaklir are inhaled respiratory medicines used for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD),” AstraZeneca said in its statement.

“Eklira is a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), which is marketed in the US as Tudorza and in some countries as Bretaris.

“Duaklir is a combination therapy that contains both a LAMA and a long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA).”

It is marketed in some countries as Brimica, the company said.

“Both medicines are presented as a dry powder for inhalation and are delivered via a breath-actuated multi-dose dry powder inhaler, Genuair, or Pressair in the US.

“AstraZeneca licensed the global rights to both products from Almirall in 2014.”

At 0836 GMT, shares in AstraZeneca were up 0.55% at 9,143p.