AstraZeneca (Opens in a new window)’s $25 million milestone payment to Pozen (Opens in a new window)in December helped the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based pharmaceutical company swing to a fourth-quarter profit of $18.4 million (Opens in a new window), according to financial results released Wednesday.
Pozen (NASDAQ:POZN (Opens in a new window)), whose osteoarthritis drug Vimovo was co-developed with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN (Opens in a new window)), lost $5.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Pozen reported 2010 fourth-quarter earnings of 62 cents per share on revenue of $29 million, up from revenue of $4.2 million a year ago. The consensus analyst estimates put Pozen earnings at 43 cents per share on revenue of $25.8 million.
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The $25 million AstraZeneca milestone payment was for securing marketing and pricing approval for Vimovo in the United Kingdom, the first for the drug in a major market outside of the United States. Vimovo received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in April.
Pozen also draws revenue from Treximet, a migraine treatment developed and marketed in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (Opens in a new window) (NYSE:GSK (Opens in a new window)). Pozen received royalty sales of $4 million for Treximet in the fourth quarter, up from $1.1 million in the same period a year ago.
Pozen’s next drug (Opens in a new window) will be the first it brings to market on its own. PA32450 is a candidate that combines aspirin with omeprazole to make the drug easier on the stomach. The target is prevention of cardiovascular disease and the compound is now in phase 3 clinical trials.