Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) announced today it had entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) for two of its drug development programmes for an upfront payment of US$125 million for both drugs.
AstraZeneca will be in charge of the continued development of the NKTR-118, a late stage product for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation, and the NKTR-119, an early stage programme intended to deliver products for the treatment of pain without constipation side effects. Apart from the development, which will include the initiation of late-stage clinical studied for NKTR-118, AstraZeneca will also be responsible for global manufacturing and marketing for both programmes.
Following the upfront payment of US$125 million, Nektar will be eligible to receive up to US$235 million in aggregate payments for the NKTR-118 upon the achievement of certain regulatory milestones and additional tiered sales milestone payments up to US$375 million if the product achieves certain levels of commercial success. The drug is expected to be filed with regulators in 2013.
Nektar will likewise receive development and sales milestone payments along with double-digit royalty payments on NKTR-119 net sales worldwide.
“(The agreement) provides us the opportunity to apply our deep knowledge and expertise in neuroscience, oncology and gastrointestinal areas of medicine to create real value for patients. This is a good example of using externalisation to enrich the company's late-stage pipeline,” said AstraZeneca Chief Executive David Brennan.
AstraZeneca rose marginally on the London Stock Exchange following the announcement, while Nektar jumped over 25% in pre-market trade in the United States.