AstraZeneca offloads Zoladex rights to TerSera
Updated : 07:34
AstraZeneca announced on Monday that it has entered into an agreement with TerSera Therapeutics for the commercial rights to the ‘Zoladex’ goserelin acetate implant in the US and Canada.
The FTSE 100 company described Zoladex as an injectable luteinising hormone-releasing hormone agonist, used to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer and certain benign gynaecological disorders, first approved in the US and Canada in 1989.
TerSera will pay AstraZeneca $250m upon completion, it confirmed.
AstraZeneca will also receive sales-related income through milestones totalling up to $70m, as well as recurring quarterly sales-based payments at mid-teen percent of product sales.
It will also manufacture and supply Zoladex to TerSera, providing a further source of ongoing income from Zoladex in the US and Canada.
“This agreement allows us to retain a significant share of the value of Zoladex in the US and Canada, while concentrating our resources on our innovative New Oncology medicines,” said AstraZeneca’s executive vice president of global product and portfolio strategy, Mark Mallon.
“It also ensures patients have continued access to Zoladex, with TerSera's dedicated focus helping to expand the potential of this important medicine.”
Ed Fiorentino, chairman and CEO of TerSera Therapeutics, said his company was “very pleased” to be partnering with AstraZeneca and investing in the future growth of Zoladex, which “continues to be a mainstay of treatment for its indicated uses”.