AstraZeneca offloads Zonig rights to Grunenthal

AstraZeneca announced on Wednesday that it entered an agreement with Grünenthal for the global rights to Zomig (zolmitriptan) outside Japan.

The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical firm said Zomig is indicated for the acute treatment of migraines and cluster headaches - an area of medicine outside AstraZeneca's strategic focus.

Grünenthal will pay AstraZeneca $200m upon completion, and AstraZeneca would also receive up to an additional $102m in future milestone payments.

The agreement dictated that Grünenthal would acquire the rights to Zomig in all markets outside Japan, including the US, where the rights were previously licensed to Impax Pharmaceuticals.

Impax would continue to market Zomig in the US, and AstraZeneca would continue to manufacture and supply the medicine to Grünenthal during a transition period.

“Grünenthal is an established partner with expertise in the treatment of pain,” said AstraZeneca’s executive vice president of global product and portfolio strategy Mark Mallon.

“It is well placed to ensure patients continue to benefit from Zomig, and to extend the commercial potential of the medicine through its dedicated salesforce.”

Gabriel Baertschi, CEO of Grünenthal said migraine is a “very debilitating disease” with more than 75 million people worldwide suffering from attacks that could lead to sensitivity to light or sound, to nausea or even vomiting.

“The acquisition of the well-established Zomig products complements our existing pain portfolio.

“Migraine has been one of the very few main pain indications we haven't yet been able to offer a solution for,” Baertschi said, adding it was an “important step” to reach the company’s ambition to become a €2bn firm by 2022.

“It will also support our efforts to bring four to five innovative products to market in the same timeframe.”

In 2016, revenues from Zomig outside Japan were $96m, AstraZeneca said including product sales and externalisation revenue.

The transaction was expected to complete in the second quarter of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances.

AstraZeneca said the net consideration from the agreement would be reported as other operating income in the company's financial statements, and the agreement did not impact the company's financial guidance for 2017.