Cell Therapeutics buys Zevalin from Biogen Idec for $10M, with up to $20M extra plus milestones

Cell Therapeutics has agreed to acquire Zevalin (ibritumomab tiuxetan), the first US-approved radioimmunotherapy, from fellow USA-based drugmaker Biogen Idec. CT will be responsible for marketing, sales and development of the drug in the domestic market but it will continue to be sold outside the USA by Bayer Schering under an existing agreement with Biogen Idec.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Zevalin in 2002 to treat patients with relapsed indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and it was cleared for rituximab-relapsed or refractory CD20-positive follicular B-cell NHL in Europe two years later. In 2006, Biogen Idec reported $16.4 million in domestic sales of the agent.

Upon closing, CT has agreed to pay Biogen Idec $10.0 million in cash up front, up to an additional $20.0 million in milestone payments when the product receives approval for a first-line indication in NHL, and royalties on sales. CT has also agreed to share the cost of certain clinical trials of Zevalin with Bayer Schering in the event such studies are undertaken. The acquisition is subject to certain closing conditions, including filings under the US Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.