AstraZeneca obtains rights to Actavis' Branded Respiratory Portfolio in the U.S. and Canada

Under a final agreement between AstraZeneca and Actavis, AstraZeneca will procure the rights to Actavis’ proprietary respiratory business in the United States and Canada, the two companies announced on Feb. 5.

AstraZeneca will pay a preliminary $600 million after completion and low single-digit royalties, plus $100 million for a variety of contractual agreements and approvals. The transaction is expected to be final in the first quarter of 2015, following which, AstraZeneca will be the new owner of the development and commercial rights to Tudorza Pressair and Daliresp.

Daliresp is the sole once-a-day oral PDE4 inhibitor currently available to treat chronic pulmonary disease (COPD), and Tudorza Pressair is a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) for COPD. In 2014, Daliresp and Tudorza Pressair collectively had an approximate $230 million in United States annual sales.

“With the addition of Tudorza and Daliresp, we will benefit from an immediate boost to revenue in our biggest market, further strengthening our growing respiratory franchise,” said Brent Sauders, CEO and president of Actavis. “This combined portfolio helps us to offer an even broader range of innovative treatments and formulations to physicians and pulmonary specialists for patients suffering with COPD."

In addition to Daliresp and Tudorza Pressair, AstraZeneca will own development rights in the United States and Canada for Duaklir Genuair, the combination dose of aclidinium with formoterol in a dry powder inhaler.