An initial research collaboration agreement gave Schering exclusive marketing rights in Europe, while Novartis held corresponding rights for North America. Under the new agreement, Schering and Novartis will join forces in each of the major markets of the world.
The value of the agreement for Schering and Novartis is designed to be equal based on the co-promotion terms and territory allocations. Schering will become the lead partner in Europe while Novartis will be the lead partner in North America. The lead partner will bear the larger part of costs and resources, and will thus retain a correspondingly larger percentage of the profits.
For Japan, costs and profits will be shared equally by Schering and Novartis. In Latin America, Africa and Australia Schering will exclusively market PTK/ZK. Novartis will exclusively market the product in Asia, excluding Japan.
“PTK/ZK has the potential to significantly advance the clinical approach to colorectal cancer, and to provide a meaningful benefit to patients with this devastating disease. It should play an important role in the expansion of our global oncology business,” said Dr Marc Rubin, member of the executive board of Schering AG responsible for development and oncology.
Schering further announced that it has transferred its interest in the ophthalmic use of PTK/ZK in a separate agreement to Novartis since ophthalmic diseases do not represent a core business field of Schering. Schering will receive an upfront fee, milestone payments and royalties.
Under the exclusive agreement Novartis is planning to develop and commercialize the compound for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).