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AstraZeneca to sell stomach drug rights to Cheplapharm for $243M upfront

AstraZeneca PLC is selling the commercial rights of its stomach medicine Losec to Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH in certain regions for about $243 million in upfront payment.

Germany's Cheplapharm will gain global rights — barring China, Japan, the U.S. and Mexico — to Losec, also known as omeprazole, and medicines containing omeprazole marketed by AstraZeneca or its collaborators under the name Acimax, Antra, Mepral, Mopral, Omepral and Zoltum. In 2018, Losec generated about $98 million in sales in the countries covered under the agreement.

Losec is used for reducing the amount of acid produced by the stomach in patients with ulcers and gastrointestinal reflux disease.

Under the agreement, privately held Cheplapharm will pay AstraZeneca $243 million following the completion of the transaction plus sales-based milestone payments of up to $33 million in 2021 and 2022.

U.K.-based AstraZeneca said the divestment is part of the company's strategy to reduce its portfolio of mature medicines in favor of developing new therapies with high unmet medical need. The company has already divested the rights to Losec and other omeprazole drugs in the U.S., Japan and Mexico.

In July 2018, AstraZeneca sold the European commercial rights to its heart failure and hypertension drugs Atacand and Atacand Plus to Cheplapharm based on the same rationale.

AstraZeneca added that it will continue to manufacture and sell Losec and related drugs in markets where it still holds the rights.