Healthcare Industry News: bupivacaine
News Release - June 28, 2006
Abraxis BioScience Completes Acquisition of the AstraZeneca U.S. Branded Anesthetic and Analgesic Product Lines
LOS ANGELES--(HSMN NewsFeed)--June 28, 2006--Abraxis BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABBI ), an integrated, global biopharmaceutical company, today announced it has completed its acquisition of the AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN ) U.S. branded anesthetic and analgesic injectable product portfolios. Abraxis will have agreements with most major Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), representing the majority of U.S. hospitals, and will assume responsibility for over 700 individual contracts for this portfolio of drugs. Products in this acquisition encompass over 100 dosage forms and include the leading branded anesthetic agent, Diprivan® (propofol), and Naropin® (ropivacaine), as well as a comprehensive suite of local anesthetics including EMLA® Cream (Eutectic Mixture of Lidocaine and Prilocaine), Xylocaine® (lidocaine), Polocaine® (mepivacaine), Nesacaine® (chloroprocaine HCl Injection, USP), Sensorcaine® (bupivacaine), and Astramorph® (morphine sulfate injection, USP). On April 26, 2006, Abraxis announced the execution of a definitive agreement to acquire these products."This acquisition of these products significantly enhances our market-leading injectable drug portfolio and underscores our on-going commitment to provide a broad range of both multi-source and branded injectables to hospitals, clinics, and ultimately the patients they treat," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Abraxis BioScience.
Abraxis, through its Abraxis Pharmaceutical Products division, manufactures the largest anti-infective injectable product portfolio and one of the broadest portfolios of oncology and critical care products. This product acquisition of over 100 dosage forms, combined with the over 300 dosage forms currently manufactured and marketed, together with the eight FDA approvals received this year and the 23 ANDA's currently under review by the FDA, positions Abraxis to be one of the largest manufacturers of injectable pharmaceutical products for the critically ill patient.
Under the final terms of the agreement, Abraxis has acquired these products for a total cash consideration of $334 million. Abraxis paid AstraZeneca $259 million at the close and will pay $75 million on the first anniversary of the close. 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.
AstraZeneca has also 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 these assets. In addition, AstraZeneca has agreed that Abraxis will be its preferred partner for consideration of certain proprietary injectable products when patents on these products expire.
On July 1, 2006, Abraxis and AstraZeneca will officially launch their five and a half year U.S. co-promotion of ABRAXANE. This robust co-promotion will greatly increase the share of voice for the product by doubling the sales force and promotional investment. In addition, AstraZeneca will share the cost of certain clinical trials that are part of the overall clinical development program.
About ABRAXANE®
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ABRAXANE® for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) in January 2005 for the treatment of breast cancer after failure of combination chemotherapy for metastatic disease or relapse within six months of adjuvant chemotherapy. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline unless clinically contraindicated. For the full prescribing information for ABRAXANE® please visit www.abraxane.com.
About Abraxis BioScience, Inc.
Abraxis BioScience, Inc. is an integrated global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to meeting the needs of critically ill patients. The company develops, manufactures and markets one of the broadest portfolios of injectable products and leverages revolutionary technology such as its nab(TM) platform to discover and deliver breakthrough therapeutics that transform the treatment of cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The first FDA approved product to use this nab platform, ABRAXANE®, was launched in 2005 for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Abraxis trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ABBI. For more information about the company and its products, please visit www.abraxisbio.com.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of $23.95 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection products. In the United States, AstraZeneca is a $10.77 billion healthcare business with more than 12,000 employees. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.
For more information about AstraZeneca, please visit: www.astrazeneca-us.com
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, hopes, goals, intentions, initiatives or strategies, including statements regarding expected revenue contributions and margins, the expected cost benefits and the acceleration of the market penetration for ABRAXANE as a result of the co-promotion agreement, global expansion, and the accretive effect of these transactions to earnings. Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward- looking statements. These factors include, without limitation, the continued market adoption and demand of ABRAXANE in North America and its potential market penetration outside of the U.S., the costs associated with the ongoing launch of ABRAXANE, the continued market acceptance of the new products acquired from AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca's ability to satisfy its obligations under the supply agreement, the difficulties or delays in developing, testing, obtaining regulatory approval of, and producing and marketing any other products, including those in the pipeline, the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the availability and pricing of ingredients used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, the ability to successfully manufacture products in a time-sensitive and cost effective manner, the acceptance and demand of new pharmaceutical products, the impact of patents and other proprietary rights held by competitors and other third parties. Additional relevant information concerning risks can be found in Abraxis BioScience's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and other documents it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ABRAXANE® is a registered trademark of Abraxis BioScience, Inc.
Diprivan®, Naropin®, EMLA®, Xylocaine®, Polocaine®, Nesacaine®, Sensoracaine®, and Astramorph® are registered trademarks of AstraZeneca plc, the U.S. rights to which will be conveyed to Abraxis BioScience at a future date.
Source: Abraxis BioScience
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