UPDATE: AstraZeneca divests Myalept for $325 million

6 November 2014

Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with US biotech firm Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AEGR) to divest Myalept (metreleptin for injection), an orphan product that is indicated to treat complications of leptin deficiency in patients with generalized lipodystrophy.

Under the terms of the accord, Aegerion will pay AstraZeneca $325 million upfront to acquire the global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize Myalept, subject to an existing distributor licence with Shionogi covering Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The transaction does not include the transfer of any AstraZeneca employees or facilities.

Myalept is the first and only product approved in the USA for the treatment of generalized lipodystrophy and it has orphan drug designation in the USA (The Pharma Letter February 26),the European Union and Japan. Myalept is a recombinant analogue of human leptin, indicated in the USA as an adjunct to diet as replacement therapy to treat the complications of leptin deficiency in patients with congenital or acquired generalized lipodystrophy.

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