Dive Brief:
- AstraZeneca (AZ) has acquired rights to Almirall’s entire respiratory portfolio for $875 million up front and another $1.22 billion once certain development and sales goals are achieved, PharmaTimes reports.
- The portfolio consists of one approved drug for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as several drugs in various stages of clinical development.
- Almirall will use the income from the sale to shore up its core dermatology portfolio.
Dive Insight:
Even before AZ's acquisition of Spain-based Almirall's respiratory portfolio, the company had already made its mark on the respiratory health field. Ahead of this acquisition, AZ had seven branded respiratory drugs and one delivery device.
Although most of the drugs in the Almirall portfolio are still in clinical development, Ekira (acidinium) has already been approved and launched in the UK and the EU. The products that are still in development could have a wide range of uses across the respiratory treatment spectrum.