AstraZeneca Sells European Rights to Crestor for $350 Million to Focus on Innovative Pipeline

Compiled by Keke

AstraZeneca Moves to Divest Again, with Blockbuster Cholesterol Drug Crestor as the Latest Target

On December 1, AstraZeneca announced that it had agreed to sell the rights to Crestor (rosuvastatin) and related medications in more than 30 European countries, excluding the United Kingdom and Spain, to Grünenthal.

Rosuvastatin is a statin-type lipid-lowering drug approved for the treatment of dyslipidemia and hypercholesterolemia, and for the prevention of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. It has currently been approved as a lipid-regulating medication in more than 100 countries. The drug exerts its lipid-modulating effects through two mechanisms: first, by inhibiting an enzyme in the liver, thereby reducing hepatic cholesterol production; and second, by increasing the liver's uptake and breakdown of cholesterol from the bloodstream.

The divestiture of Crestor’s marketing rights is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. On this basis, Grünenthal will make an upfront non-contingent payment of $320 million to AstraZeneca, with potential additional milestone payments of up to $30 million in the future. AstraZeneca stated that the divestiture would not affect its financial guidance for 2020. Furthermore, AstraZeneca will continue to manufacture and supply Crestor during the transition period.

Crestor Agreement stipulates that the product sales revenue in 2019 was $136 million. This drug is currently one of the most popular statins, patented in 1991, launched in the United States in 2003, and received an additional six months of exclusivity for cholesterol and atherosclerosis indications in July 2009. Crestor's annual sales peaked at $6.62 billion in 2011.

However, in April 2016, the U.S. FDA approved the first generic version of rosuvastatin calcium tablets for use in combination with diet to treat hypertriglyceridemia in adults; in combination with diet to treat type III hyperlipoproteinemia; and as monotherapy or in combination with other cholesterol-lowering therapies to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Following the patent cliff, Crestor’s sales revenue began a multi-year decline.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot began revitalizing the company’s overall business two years ago, a turnaround attributed to its focus on novel drugs such as the anticancer agents Tagrisso and Lynparza, while simultaneously shedding declining products through asset divestitures. In this process, AstraZeneca sold the rights to several drugs no longer needed in its pipeline to Grünenthal.

In 2018, AstraZeneca sold the European patent rights to the gastric mucosal protective drug Nexium and the global rights to the pain medication Vimovo to Grünenthal for up to $922 million. In 2017, the German company also acquired the rights to use AstraZeneca’s migraine treatment Zomig in all markets outside Japan for approximately $302 million. In 2016, AstraZeneca sold the sales rights for the gout medication Zurampic in Europe and Latin America to Grünenthal for milestone payments exceeding $230 million, and subsequently sold the marketing rights for the drug in the United States to Ironwood Pharmaceuticals.

As for Grünenthal, the aforementioned transactions constitute all of its acquisitions since 2016 (except for the acquisition of global rights to the analgesic Qutenza, which was conducted in collaboration with Astellas and Acorda Therapeutics). It appears that this German company is a “loyal fan” of AstraZeneca.

This Crestor transaction further demonstrates AstraZeneca’s corporate strategy of divesting legacy drugs to support innovation in other areas, even during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, just about a month ago, AstraZeneca completed another product divestiture deal, agreeing to sell the commercial rights to its cardiovascular drugs Atacand and Atacand Plus in approximately 70 countries outside the United States, China, and Japan to Cheplapharm Arzneimittel for $400 million. In that transaction, AstraZeneca retained the rights in the three major markets of the United States, China, and Japan, similar to the Crestor deal.

AstraZeneca has clarified that it will continue to sell Crestor in markets including North America, Japan, China, and other emerging countries. However, this does not imply that these three markets are experiencing growth for Crestor. In the first three quarters of this year, Crestor generated $884 million in sales for AstraZeneca, representing an 11% year-on-year decline. Of this, European sales contributed only $94 million, a 16% decrease compared to the same period in 2019. The primary drag came from emerging markets, which account for the largest share of Crestor’s current sales but are declining at a faster rate. Affected by the Chinese government’s value-based bulk procurement program, Crestor’s sales in emerging markets fell by 7% in constant currency terms during the first nine months of the year, reaching $560 million.

References:

1.AstraZeneca Sells Rights for Cholesterol Med to Invest in Pipeline

2.AstraZeneca hands European Crestor rights to old customer Grünenthal for $350M