BioPharma, Pharma

AstraZeneca sells US rights to RSV drug to Swedish firm for $1.5B

Sobi buys US rights to Synagis, currently the only drug approved for treating RSV, along with 50 percent of US earnings for its successor, the Phase II MEDI8897.

A Swedish drugmaker focused on rare diseases has bought US rights to an AstraZeneca drug.

Sobi, a Stockholm-based firm whose name stands for Swedish Orphan Biovitrium AB said Tesday that it had acquired perpetual US rights to AstraZeneca’s Synagis (palivizumab), along with rights to receive 50 percent of US earnings from the investigational AstraZeneca drug MEDI8897. To secure the rights, the company paid 13.6 billion Swedish kronor, or $1.5 billion, one-third of which consisted of newly issued shares in the company, while the remaining two-thirds was in cash.

Synagis is a prophylactic treatment against respiratory synctial virus in high-risk infants, and the company said acquiring US rights to the drug would bolster its immunology and pediatrics portfolios. The drug received Food and Drug Administration approval in 1998. The drug had global sales of $687 million, including $317 million in the US for 2017, according to the drugmaker’s annual report. US sales had declined by 2 percent due to American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines that restricted its availability. Meanwhile, sales elsewhere in the world – where AbbVie is responsible for commercialization in more than 80 countries – increased by 5 percent, to $370 million.

Meanwhile, MEDI8897 – developed by AstraZeneca’s MedImmune subsidiary – is a follow-on candidate to Synagis that AstraZeneca is investigating for the prevention of lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV in the same patient group. Synagis is the only drug currently approved for the disease. “Sobi’s focus on Synagis will enable infants in the US to continue benefiting from this important treatment,” AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said in a statement.

ClinicalTrials.gov lists three studies for MEDI8897, including an ongoing Phase II study that is closed for recruitment and two completed studies, one Phase I and another Phase Ib/IIa. AstraZeneca’s clinical development has come to focus on clinical areas like oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and respiratory diseases, while MEDI8897 is listed in the “other” category on its pipeline page.

Photo: alexsl, Getty Images

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