Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) announced that following the successful completion of the acquisition of Amylin Pharmaceuticals by Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca has made an initial payment of approximately $3.2 billion to Amylin Pharmaceuticals, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb. As previously disclosed, the payment is being made in connection with the expansion of the diabetes alliance between AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb to incorporate the development and marketing of Amylin's portfolio of diabetes products, and profits and losses arising from the collaboration will be shared equally.
AstraZeneca has also informed Bristol-Myers Squibb of its intention to exercise its option to acquire certain additional governance rights over key strategic and financial decisions regarding Amylin’s portfolio. The right to exercise this option will become effective once applicable anti-trust and competition approvals are received by AstraZeneca. Upon the exercise of the option an additional payment of $135 million will be made to Bristol-Myers Squibb.
"The completion of our acquisition of Amylin and the expansion of our diabetes alliance with AstraZeneca will increase and strengthen our innovative portfolio of diabetes medicines, extending its reach across the spectrum of treatment options," said Lamberto Andreotti, chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to work together to build on the innovative portfolio, state-of-the art manufacturing facilities and dedicated customer focus that the talented people at Amylin have created."
Simon Lowth, interim chief executive officer, AstraZeneca, said: "We are delighted to have successfully completed the expansion of our diabetes alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb through the addition of Amylin's GLP-1 franchise, creating a broader disease management platform for patients, physicians and payers. We are looking forward to working with the team at Amylin to build on their success and maximize AstraZeneca's and Bristol-Myers Squibb's combined capabilities to make these innovative treatments available to many more diabetes patients across the world."
About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca Collaboration
Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca entered into a collaboration in January 2007 to enable the companies to research, develop and commercialize certain investigational drugs for type 2 diabetes. The Bristol-Myers Squibb/AstraZeneca diabetes collaboration is focused around ONGLYZA® (saxagliptin), part of the innovative class of DPP-4 inhibitors, KOMBIGLYZE® (saxagliptin and metformin HCI extended-release) and FORXIGA® (dapagliflozin), an investigational SGLT2 inhibitor, and is dedicated to global patient care, improving patient outcomes and creating a new vision for the treatment of diabetes. ONGLYZA has been submitted for regulatory approval in 93 countries and is approved in 77 countries including the US, Canada, Mexico, EU, India, Brazil and China. FORXIGA received a positive opinion from the CHMP in Europe in April 2012.
The expansion of the collaboration covers the co-development and marketing of products in the Amylin Pharmaceuticals portfolio, which include BYETTA® (exenatide) and BYDUREON® (exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension/exenatide 2 mg powder and solvent for prolonged release suspension for injection) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, metreleptin, an investigational leptin analogue currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of lipodystrophy, and SYMLIN® (pramlintide acetate), an amylin analogue, approved by the FDA for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients with inadequate glycaemic control on meal-time insulin.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases.
About Amylin Pharmaceuticals
Amylin Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving lives of patients through the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines. Amylin is committed to delivering novel therapies that transform the way diabetes and other metabolic disorders are treated. The acquisition of Amylin by Bristol-Myers Squibb was completed August 9, 2012.