Abraxis BioScience Inc. has completed its $334 million acquisition of AstraZeneca plc’s U.S.-branded injectable product portfolio of anesthetic and analgesic drugs, part of a larger partnership between the two drug companies.
Products in this acquisition encompass more than 100 dosage forms and include Diprivan, a leading general anesthetic; Naropin, an epidural agent; and Xylocaine, an anesthetic commonly used by dentists.
Abraxis, based in Los Angeles and best known for its Abraxane cancer drug and a line of generic drugs, will now have supply agreements with group purchasing organizations representing the majority of U.S. hospitals, and will assume responsibility for more than 700 individual contracts for this product portfolio.
“This acquisition of these products significantly enhances our market-leading injectable drug portfolio and underscores our ongoing commitment to provide a broad range of both multisource and branded injectables to hospitals, clinics, and ultimately the patients they treat,” Chief Executive Patrick Soon-Shiong said in a statement.
Abraxis paid London-based AstraZeneca $259 million at the deal’s close and will pay $75 million on the first anniversary of the sale. AstraZeneca will exclusively supply to Abraxis these products for an initial term of five years for the U.S. market. AstraZeneca will continue to administer the distribution of this portfolio of drugs for a limited period of time, the companies said.
AstraZeneca also has granted Abraxis BioScience the right of first offer to purchase or license its branded anesthetics and analgesics portfolio outside of the U.S. should AstraZeneca decide to divest them. In addition, it has agreed that Abraxis will be its preferred partner for consideration of certain proprietary injectable products when patents on these products expire.
In addition, Abraxis and AstraZeneca will launch a five-year U.S. co-promotion of Abraxane on July 1. This partnership will result in a doubling of the sales force and promotional investment in the product, which is approved for the treatment of metatastic breast cancer. In addition, AstraZeneca will share the cost of certain clinical trials that are part of the overall clinical development program.
