Under the terms of the agreement, QLT will receive a one-time cash payment of approximately $150 million upon closing, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2008. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of both QLT and Allergan, respectively.
The Aczone asset purchase agreement is the second agreement entered into by the company to divest non-core assets since it announced its strategic restructuring earlier in 2008. Other assets offered for sale from QLT USA include Eligard and the Atrigel drug delivery system.
Bob Butchofsky, president and CEO of QLT, said: “This transaction is the second in a series of planned asset sales that, once completed, we expect will enable us to return meaningful proceeds to our shareholders.”