Orexo gets £5 million milestone for Abstral in Europe; Zubsolv continues strong growth in the USA

The annual sales in Europe of Abstral, a rapidly-disintegrating, sublingual formulation of fentanyl, have passed 60 million euros ($74.4 million) during 2014, which triggers a milestone payment of million £5 million ($7.8 million) to Sweden’s Orexo (STO:ORX) from the commercial partner in Europe, ProStrakan, a subsidiary of Japanese drugmaker Kyowa Hakko Kirin (TYO: 4151).

According to the June 2012 agreement with ProStrakan for Abstral sales in Europe, Orexo receive a fixed and non-conditional royalty of £55 million, a variable royalty for annual sales exceeding 42.5 million euros and milestone payments of up to 10 million euros. The threshold for the variable royalty was reached during the third quarter and Orexo will receive royalty for all sales of Abstral in Europe in the fourth quarter. The fixed and non-conditional Abstral royalties will reach million 174 Swedish kronor ($23.2 million) for the full year. The fixed payment will be fully recognized in the P&L by May 2015 and will have no cash impact, as the payments have all been received.

“The development of Abstral enables Orexo to further invest in the commercialization and development of Zubsolv [buprenorphine and naloxone], accelerating the positive momentum for the product and the overall market for opioid dependence treatment,” said Nikolaj Sørensen, chief executive and president of Orexo.