Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.AstraZeneca has agreed to license exclusive rights to the gout-associated hyperuricemia drug Zurampic (lesinurad) in Europe and Latin America to Grünenthal.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
The licensing deal could generate up to $230m for AstraZeneca, and Gruenenthal will also pay royalties on sales.
The agreement also gives Grünenthal exclusive rights to the fixed-dose combination of lesinurad and allopurinol, which is now in clinical trials.
Grünenthal has agreed to submit the fixed-dose combination program for regulatory review.
AstraZeneca said it will initially manufacture and supply Zurampic to Grünenthal and will undertake the European postapproval commitment on Grünenthal’s behalf.
Grünenthal has the option to take over manufacturing of Zurampic from 1 October 2021.
Grünenthal CEO Eric-Paul Pâques said: "Zurampic is a strong addition to our existing portfolio of innovative therapies in the areas of inflammatory diseases and chronic pain.
"We will thus use our capabilities to provide patients in our markets with this innovative new medicine to better control their condition."
AstraZeneca global product and portfolio strategy executive vice president Luke Miels said: "This agreement, along with the agreement we recently entered into with Ironwood in the US, allows us to ensure the successful launch of Zurampic in key markets working with experienced partners, while we continue to focus our resources around our strategic priorities."
Zurampic is designed to work by selectively inhibiting the function of transporter proteins urate transporter (URAT1) and organic anion transporter 4 (OAT4), involved in uric acid reabsorption in the kidney.
Earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency approved the combination of Zurampic and a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI) for adjunctive treatment of hyperuricemia in adult patients with uncontrolled gout.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved the Zurampic-XOI combination in December last year.
Image: AstraZeneca enters into a licensing agreement with Grünenthal for the exclusive rights to Zurampic in Europe and Latin America. Photo: courtesy of AstraZeneca.