Clinigen signs commercial deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb in South Africa

The AIM-traded firm said the agreement covers BMS' South African portfolio of products for an initial period of five years.

Clinigen said its Commercial Medicines business operation would provide access for patients in South Africa for the BMS products.

It would provide local regulatory expertise, supply and distribution infrastructure and experience in managing licensed medicines in the region.

The agreement would lead to the transfer of Marketing Authorisations from BMS to Clinigen, which would likely be completed in the first half of 2019.

In the Africa and Asia Pacific region, Clinigen said it already had 192 actively marketed specialist pharmaceutical and medical technology licensed products, including both branded and generic products.

The agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb would complement the group's growing basket of essential medicine on offer to healthcare providers and their patients in the region, the board said.

“This agreement demonstrates the long and successful relationship we have built with BMS, which began with providing access to BMS' unlicensed products globally, and has grown with Clinigen's expansion into important future growth markets,” said Clinigen group CEO Shaun Chilton.

“Clinigen is increasingly becoming the partner of choice for pharmaceutical companies to license and distribute their products.

“This agreement shows that our strategy for Commercial Medicines of adding regional commercial agreements to our existing portfolio of global products, a key strategic priority for the group, is working.”