Novartis and Eisai have terminated their deal to co-promote three treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Japan.
The companies have called time on their partnership, which covered Novartis’ Onbrez, Seebri and QVA149, just over a year after it was signed.
The November 2011 co-promotion agreement saw Novartis and Eisai conduct a range of “information provision” activities for the drugs.
These saw Novartis’ Japanese business concentrate on university and ‘flagship’ hospitals, while Eisai was tasked with targeting other healthcare providers such as general hospitals and primary care doctors.
At the time Novartis saw the deal as a way to maximise the value of its COPD drugs, while for Eisai it was meant to enhance its internal medicine portfolio.
Eisai said the decision to terminate the agreement, which came after a round of negotiations between the partners, was the result of a “review of sales strategies for the products”.
Novartis will now go it alone in promoting Onbrez Inhalation Capsules 150 mcg (indacaterol maleate) and Seebri Inhalation Capsules 50 mcg (glycopyrronium bromide).
The Swiss pharma company also takes back responsibility for the “provision, gathering and transmission of pharmaceutical information” on QVA149, a combination of Onbrez and Seebri that was filed for Japanese approval in November.