AstraZeneca Sells US Rights to Respiratory-Infection Drug for Initial $1.5 Billion

   By Carlo Martuscelli

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) said Tuesday that it will sell the U.S. rights to its respiratory-tract-infection drug Synagis to Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (SOBI.SK) for an initial payment of $1.5 billion in cash and shares.

The company said Sobi will be in charge of commercializing the drug in the U.S. and 130 Astra employees will move to the company as part of the deal. Sobi also has the rights to a share of U.S. profits arising from the drug candidate MEDI8897, also for respiratory-tract infections, which Astra is developing in collaboration with Sanofi S.A. (SAN.FR).

The FTSE-100 listed drugmaker said it will receive $1 billion in cash plus $500 million in shares from Sobi, with the proceeds going to general corporate purposes. It will also receive up to $470 million in sales-related payments for Synagis.

For MEDI8897, Astra said it will receive a $175 million milestone payment after a biologics license application is submitted, as well as potential net payments of around $110 million on other profit- and development-related milestones. It will receive a total of $60 million in non-contingent payments for the experimental drug in the period between 2019 and 2021, it said.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 13, 2018 02:39 ET (07:39 GMT)

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