Nordic Life Science 1
T E X T b y M AL IN O T M ANI NOVO NORDISK AND ME
DTRONIC ENTER AGREEMENT Ruud Dobber, EVP Biopharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca Camilla Sylvest, EVP, Commercial Strategy & Corporate Affairs, Novo Nordisk COMMERCIAL RIGHTS ASTRAZENECA DIVESTS RIGHTS FOR LOSEC THE COMPANY HAS AGREED TO SELL THE GLOBAL COMMERCIAL RIGHTS, EXCLUDING CHINA, JAPAN, THE US AND MEXICO, FOR LOSEC (OMEPRAZOLE) AND ASSOCIATED BRANDS TO CHEPLAPHARM. T HE DIVESTMENT INCLUDES medicines containing omeprazole marketed by AstraZeneca or its collaborators under the Acimax, Antra, Mepral, Mopral, Omepral and Zoltum brand names. “This agreement forms part of our strategy of reducing the portfolio of mature medicines to enable reinvestment in our main therapy areas, accelerating the number of innovative new medicines for patients with high unmet medical need,” says Ruud Dobber, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca will continue to manufacture and supply Losec and its associated medicines and commercialize the medicine in markets where it still holds the rights. Cheplapharm will pay AstraZeneca approximately $243 million on completion of the agreement, plus sales-contingent milestones of up to $33 million in 2021 and 2022. Income arising from the upfront payment will be reported in the company’s financial statements in 2019 as other operating income. The companies will develop solutions to integrate insulin dosing data from future Novo Nordisk smart insulin pens into Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) devices from Medtronic. T XBRANE BIOPHARMA FULFILLS THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO TRADING OF THE COMPANY’S SHARES ON THE MAIN MARKET NASDAQ STOCKHOLM. “UP-LISTING TO THE MAIN MARKET, Nasdaq Stockholm, is an important step for Xbrane. It increases the potential investor base and thus creates greater opportunities for us to become a world-leading biosimilar developer,” says Martin Åmark, CEO Xbrane. Martin Åmark, CEO, Xbrane HIS NEW, NON-EXCLUSIVE collaboration reflects the commitment of both companies to making diabetes management easier by integrating key health technologies, they state. “To help ease the hassle of diabetes management, we are excited to be partnering with Medtronic, the largest medical device company in the world,” says Camilla Sylvest, EVP, Commercial Strategy & Corporate Affairs, Novo Nordisk. “We now collaborate with all major CGM device producers, which means we can bring the benefits of smart insulin pens to even more people.” Novo Nordisk expects to launch its durable smart insulin pens, NovoPen 6 and NovoPen Echo Plus, as well as its disposable, pre-filled injection solution starting in 2020. Once available, smart insulin pens will be compatible with both Android and iOS devices. The Guardian Connect system will also be updated to integrate data from these Novo Nordisk smart pens. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG 9