Pharmaceutical Business review

MedImmune and Abbott amend antibodies pact

Under the amended agreement, Abbott will distribute and market Numax, MedImmune’s investigational second-generation anti-RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) monoclonal antibody (MAb) currently in phase III development, upon approval outside of the US. MedImmune intends to market and sell Numax on its own in the US.

Additionally, Abbott will continue to distribute and market Synagis (palivizumab), MedImmune’s first-generation anti-RSV MAb. As a part of the amendment, MedImmune has the option to co-promote Numax with Abbott in up to seven countries outside the US.

“Expanding our relationship with Abbott to include Numax enables us to build on the success they are already having with Synagis,” said David Mott, CEO and president of MedImmune. “This new agreement provides MedImmune with a larger portion of the economics from our RSV franchise outside of the US, and longer term, provides us with the opportunity to participate directly in the commercialization of Numax outside the US.”