Forest acquires Grunenthal's cystic fibrosis franchise in Europe

In the second collaboration between the companies this month, the USA’s Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) and family-owned German drugmaker Grunenthal GmbH have entered into an agreement whereby Forest has acquired all rights currently held by Grunenthal for colistin and all rights previously licensed by Forest to Grunenthal for Colobreathe.

Colistin is an antibiotic used to treat the principal bacterial infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, and Colobreathe is a novel dry powder inhaler containing colistin developed by Forest and currently being reviewed by the European Medicines Agency.

Forest holds market authorizations for and markets colistin in the UK and Ireland, while Grunenthal holds market authorizations for and markets colistin in several other European markets. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. With this transaction, Forest will expand its European cystic fibrosis franchise and become a major distributor of colistin in Europe. Grunenthal divested the colistin franchise as part of its strategy to focus its business on its core pain franchise.