Talecris teams up with Novartis to market rabies products; law firms investigate proposed buy by Grifols

USA-based Talecris Biotherapeutics has entered into a co-promotion agreement with the vaccines unit of Swiss drug major Novartis to jointly market and sell their respective post-exposure rabies products. Financial terms of the deal are not disclosed.

Talecris, which is the subject of a $3.4 billion takeover deal from Spain's Grifols (The Pharma Letter June 7), provides HyperRAB S/D (rabies immune globulin [human]), an essential component of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis for previously unvaccinated individuals, that is administered in combination with rabies vaccines. Novartis Vaccine provides RabAvert rabies vaccine for both pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis.

"Through our agreement with Novartis, we are seeking to improve access to this critical-care therapy by ensuring that patients receive the immune protection provided by HyperRAB S/D and RabAvert," said John Perkins, executive vice president, global commercial operations at Talecris. "By co-promoting the two products, we will also enhance awareness of the recommended CDC guidelines for preventing rabies following an exposure."