Aralez To Acquire US Rights To AstraZeneca's Beta Blocker Toprol-XL For $175 Mln

(RTTNews) - British biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca plc. (AZN, AZN.L) and Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARLZ, ARZ.TO) on Tuesday announced an agreement, under which Aralez Pharmaceuticals Trading DAC will buy the rights to branded and authorised generic Toprol-XL (metoprolol succinate) in the US.

Toprol-XL is a beta-blocker medicine for the control of hypertension (high blood pressure), angina (chest pain) and heart failure. It was first approved in the US in 1992.

Under the deal terms, Aralez will pay AstraZeneca $175 million to acquire the rights to Toprol-XL tablets in the US, and the authorised generic medicine marketed by Par Pharmaceuticals. Aralez will also pay AstraZeneca up to $48 million in milestone and sales-related payments, as well as mid-teen percentage royalties on sales.

The transaction is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.

AstraZeneca will continue to manufacture and supply Toprol-XL and the authorised generic medicine to Aralez.

In 2015, US Product Sales for Toprol-XL and the AstraZeneca share from the sale of the authorised generic medicine totalled $89 million.

As AstraZeneca will retain an ongoing interest in Toprol-XL in the US through the ongoing milestones, royalties and product supply, the upfront payment of $175 million, milestones and sales-related payments of up to $48 million and mid-teen percentage royalties will be reported as Externalisation Revenue in the Company's financial statements.

The agreement does not include the transfer of any AstraZeneca employees or facilities and does not impact AstraZeneca's financial guidance for 2016.

Meanwhile, Aralez said the transaction is expected to be immediately EBITDA accretive and to move profitability forward to 2017, in each case on an adjusted EBITDA basis.