Horizon Acquires U.S. Rights to Vimovo

Illinois-based drugmaker Horizon Pharma has acquired the U.S. rights to AstraZeneca’s Vimovo delayed-release tablets in order to bolster the company’s primary care portfolio. Rights outside the U.S. will be retained by AstraZeneca.

Horizon anticipates the deal will “accelerate the company to profitable operations,” Timothy Walbert, Horizon’s chairman, president and CEO, said Tuesday. The specialty drugmaker has incurred net operating losses and negative cash flows from operations since its inception in 2010.

Horizon will make a single up-front payment to AstraZeneca of $35 million and will make royalty payments of 10 percent on the drug’s sales going forward.

Vimovo (esomeprazole magnesium and naproxen) won FDA approval in 2010, both for relief of symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, as well as for patients at high risk of stomach ulcers from other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

AstraZeneca will continue marketing Vimovo through the end of the year. Horizon expects to take over in early 2014 and projects revenue between $190 million and $205 million. — Lena Freund

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