Orexo and ProStrakan Group have reconfigured the commercial rights to the product, Abstral, in various territories worldwide.
Abstral is the novel, rapidly-disintegrating, sublingual (under the tongue) formulation of fentanyl, and an opioid used for the management of episodes of breakthrough pain experienced by cancer patients who are already receiving opioid analgesics for chronic pain.
Kyowa Hakko Kirin subsidiary ProStrakan will acquire the rights to Abstral for Europe and will also acquire Orexo's interests in the companies' joint venture business covering the Nordic region, whereas Orexo will acquire all rights to Abstral in the US as from 31 December 2012.
ProStrakan will pay to Orexo a total net cash consideration of £55m, of which £22.5m will be paid in 2012, £20m in 2013 and £12.5m in 2014.
Orexo will receive double digit royalty payments from ProStrakan once annual sales of Abstral exceed certain levels in EU, and the former is entitled to further milestone payments, when EU annual sales reach certain levels.
As part of this alignment of Abstral rights, ProStrakan is also acquiring all existing Abstral partnership agreements in the rest of the world, excluding Japan.
Orexo chief executive Anders Lundström said, "With rights to Abstral and the OX219 product soon to be filed, we have a great basis for establishing Orexo with a solid commercial infrastructure in the US."
ProStrakan chief executive Tom Stratford said, "We regard this agreement as an important step forward for ProStrakan as it secures ownership of this oncology product in our European heartland and a potentially significant income stream from partnerships worldwide.
"In the US, where a significant proportion of the Abstral market is with pain specialists, ProStrakan will continue to focus on our oncology franchise," Stratford said.
