Dr Reddy’s in 'timely divestiture' of neurology products for $110m
The agreement will see Upsher-Smith Laboratories, a US-based generics company, acquire rights to the two products for $70m (€62m) for the US and other selected markets, through an up-front cash payment, with a further $40.5m in near-term milestones payments and sales-based royalty payments included.
A spokesperson for the company specified, “From a territory perspective, we would like to retain rights for India and selected emerging markets, where we have a good footprint.”
Zembrace SymTouch (sumatriptan injection) 3mg and Tosymra (sumatriptan nasal spray) are medications used to treat migraine headaches and cluster headaches through different routes of delivery.
Dr Reddy’s currently commercialises the products through its subsidiary, Promius Pharma – with Zembrace already on the market and Tosymra having been approved but not yet launched.
The two therapies are Promius Pharma’s lead products – though it also has a pipeline including DFN-15 (oral liquid celecoxib) and DFN-19 (dihydroergotamine nasal spray).
The subsidiary company has filed a new drug application (NDA) for the former drug while the latter treatment is currently in Phase II trials. According to Promius, it also has ‘multiple ongoing programs’ in Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
The spokesperson clarified why the divestitures had been made, explaining, “This transaction is in line with the ongoing philosophy of timely divesture of select products/brands, [with the aim of] being more self-sufficient and calibrated, in terms of spends on either commercial or development.”
“These divestures are more from the front-end perspective. We will continue to remain invested in specialty pharma,” they continued.
Dr Reddy’s move to divest the licensing of the products follows on from the decision to sell an active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) plant and an antibiotics facility last year.
