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news.AstraZeneca has agreed to sell part of its antibiotics business to Pfizer in a deal worth about $1.6bn.
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The deal will see Pfizer acquire the development and commercialization rights to AstraZeneca’s late-stage small molecule anti-infectives business in most markets outside the US.
It includes the commercialization and development rights to the newly approved EU drug Zavicefta (ceftazidime-avibactam), the marketed agents Merrem/Meronem (meropenem) and Zinforo (ceftaroline fosamil), and the clinical development assets aztreonam-avibactam (ATM-AVI) and CXL.
Pfizer will make a $550m upfront payment when the deal is completed towards the end of this year and a further $175m in January 2019.
Based on the progress and commercial success of the drugs, Pfizer will pay a further $850m plus royalties.
The agreement is anticipated to improve near-term revenue growth potential for Pfizer’s Essential Health business.
The deal is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions.
Zavicefta is a combination antibiotic that has been developed to treat severe Gram-negative bacterial infections.
Merrem/Meronem is a carbapenem anti-bacterial used to treat serious infections in hospitalised patients.
Zinforo is an intravenous cephalosporin antibiotic intended for use as a monotherapy in the treatment of adult patients with complicated skin and soft tissue infections or community-acquired pneumonia.
ATM-AVI is a bactericidal, injectable combination of aztreonam and a β-lactamase inhibitor, Avibactam (AVI, NXL104), which is in development to treat life-threatening Gram-negative bacterial infections caused by multi-drug resistant strains.
CXL is a novel, injectable bactericidal β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combination of ceftaroline fosamil, a next-generation cephalosporin with activity against multidrug-resistant Gram-positive and common enteric Gram-negative pathogens, and Avibactam , a potent β-lactamase inhibitor that inhibits Ambler Class A, Class C (Amp C) β-lactamase enzymes, and some Class D β-lactamase enzymes.