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Valeant Pharmaceuticals licenses psoriasis drug from AstraZeneca

Last updated: 11:51 01 Sep 2015 EDT, First published: 09:51 01 Sep 2015 EDT

psoriasis350
Amgen gave brodalumab the brush-off earlier this year

UK drugs giant AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) has granted rights to Valeant (TSE:VRX, NYSE:VRX) to develop and commercialise brodalumab, an experimental treatment for the skin condition psoriasis.

Canadian firm Valeant will make an up-front payment to AstraZeneca of US$100 million, as well as additional pre-launch milestones of up to US$170 million and further sales related milestone payments of up to US$175 million following launch. Should the drug make it to market, AstraZeneca and Valeant will share profits.

Valeant will hold the exclusive rights to develop and commercialise brodalumab globally, except in Japan and certain other Asian countries where rights are held by Kyowa Hakko Kirin under a prior arrangement with Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), the US pharmaceuticals developer that originated brodalumab.

Amgen ceased joint development of the drug with Astra after the drug was found to prompt suicidal tendencies in some patients, but the treatment has had two large-scale clinical trials and is expected to be submitted to the regulatory authorities in the USA and European Union before the end of the year.

"Our agreement will help to bring brodalumab to patients with psoriasis who need new treatment options through Valeant's expert focus on dermatology," said Astra’s chief executive officer (CEO), Pascal Soriot.

Michael Pearson, chairman and CEO of Valeant, said: “We are delighted we were able to reach a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca to commercialize brodalumab, which is potentially the most efficacious therapy yet for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.”

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