Mylan has signed a $300m deal to gain the US commercial rights to the blood clot drug Arixtra.
US-based Mylan will pay an upfront fee of $225m to South Africa’s Aspen to acquire the licence to market the injectable Arixtra (fondaparinux sodium) in the US to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which may lead to a blood clot in the lung known as a pulmonary embolism (PE).
The deal will also see Mylan take control of the authorised generic version of Arixtra produced by Aspen. If certain targets are met, the South African company could also receive a further $75m from Mylan.
Mylan already knows the product well as it currently sells Arixtra in the US through an interim distributions arrangement agreed with Aspen. The authorised generic is currently marketed in the US by Apotex, although this new agreement will see Mylan gain rights to the product.
Arixtra’s sales in the US hit $18.8m for the 12 months ending June 30, 2014, according to IMS Health, while sales of the authorised generic came to just under $100m.
Mylan’s CEO Heather Bresch said: “The addition of Arixtra is an attractive opportunity to broaden the range of therapeutic categories we market in the US, in both the hospital and retail settings, and bolster our growing portfolio of complex injectables to better meet our customers’ needs.”
Once the deal is finalised Aspen will supply both Arixtra and the authorised generic to Mylan.
The deal comes two months after Mylan agreed a complex deal to buy Abbott’s specialty and branded generics business in developed markets outside the US.
Mylan said the agreement, which saw Abbott gain part ownership in a newly formed business that combines Mylan’s existing business and Abbott’s pharmaceutical business in developed markets, was driven partly to take advantage of the more favourable tax rates offered in Europe.