Almirall completes deal with Astrazeneca in respiratory disease

Almirall today announced that, effective November 1^st, it has completed the transaction to transfer to AstraZeneca the rights of Almirall’s respiratory franchise after all closing conditions have been satisfied. AstraZeneca will now own the rights for the development and commercialization of Almirall’s existing proprietary respiratory business, including rights to revenues from Almirall’s partnerships, as well as its pipeline of investigational novel therapies. The franchise includes Eklira^® (aclidinium); Duaklir^®, the combination of aclidinium with formoterol (LAMA/LABA) that has received a positive opinion from the CHMP in the EU and is being developed in the US; LAS100977 (abediterol), a once-daily long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) in Phase II; an M3 antagonist beta2-agonist (MABA) platform in pre-clinical development (LAS191351, LAS194871) and Phase I (LAS190792); and multiple pre-clinical programmes. Almirall Sofotec, an Almirall subsidiary focused on the development of innovative proprietary devices, also transfers to AstraZeneca.

Almirall announced this strategic transaction on July 30^th, which includes an upfront cash consideration upon completion of $875 million and, additionally, up to $1.22 billion related to development, launch, and sales-related milestones. AstraZeneca has also agreed to make various sales-related payments.

Jorge Gallardo, President of Almirall said: “This global collaboration will allow us to maximize the potential value of our exciting respiratory franchise and AstraZeneca is the perfect partner to do this. Moreover, the deal has given us a strong financial baseline to accelerate our strategy and to start focusing our resources in becoming a top Dermatology global player with an additional interest in other specialist driven areas. Excellence in R&D will remain a key part of Almirall’s business going forward and we are confident that this agreement will make a significant contribution to the company’s long-term growth.”