AstraZeneca and Forest Laboratories (Forest) have sealed a collaboration agreement to co-develop and commercialise ceftaroline in all markets outside the US, Canada and Japan.
Ceftaroline, Forest’s late stage next generation cephalosporin, is being investigated for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).
Ceftaroline demonstrated bactericidal activity against a range of pathogens commonly implicated in cSSSI and CABP, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (MDRSP).
Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay Forest an undisclosed signing fee, sales-related royalties, and payments for reaching certain sales milestones.
AstraZeneca will also assume responsibility for the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of ceftaroline in the licensed territory. Both the parties will collaborate on future development activities.
Moreover, Forest expects to file a New Drug Application in the US by the end of 2009, with AstraZeneca filing a Marketing Authorization Application in Europe by the end of 2010.
Howard Solomon, chairman and CEO of Forest said: “We are pleased to enter this partnership with AstraZeneca for the development and commercialization of ceftaroline outside North America. We believe AstraZeneca’s expertise in the anti-infective field together with their global sales and marketing organization will help bring this important therapeutic, if approved, to patients with severe skin and respiratory infections worldwide. We expect this partnership, along with our more recent product launches, will produce economic benefit during periods when we face patent expirations.”