AbbVie Buys Rights to Boehringer Psoriasis Drug for $595 mln
Tuesday, March 08, 2016
U.S. drugmaker AbbVie has acquired marketing rights to a promising experimental psoriasis treatment from Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim for an initial upfront payment of $595 million.
The deal covers the compound BI655066, which is being tested on humans in the third and last phase required for regulatory approval.
AbbVie will be solely responsible for selling the drug but unlisted Boehringer will retain an option to co-promote it in asthma, the companies said in a statement on Monday.
In addition to the $595 million, Boehringer will also get milestone payments and royalties on net sales, depending on the drug's successful development.
The terms of these further payments were not disclosed. However, AbbVie said it expected the transaction to be approximately $0.08 dilutive to earnings per share in 2016.
The drug is also being tested to treat Crohn's disease, a chronic bowel inflammation.
Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the growth cycle of skin cells is accelerated, affecting about 125 million patients across the word. There are currently a range of treatments to improve symptoms but no cure.
BI655066 in October was shown to help more patients and work faster than Johnson & Johnson's Stelara in a Phase II study with 166 participants.
Boehringer said at the time it was preparing several Phase III trials.
AbbVie's drug Humira against rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, the world's biggest-selling prescription drug, is facing potential competition from cheaper copycat versions known as biosimilars.
Amgen in November sought U.S. approval to sell its less expensive alternative to Humira.
Psoriasis has been targeted as a promising treatment area by a number of drugmakers, including Novartis, which recently launched a product called Cosentyx for the condition.
Source : reuters.com
