Basilea Pharmaceutica International has amended its existing license agreement for Europe, Russia, Turkey and Israel with Pfizer Inc. for Basilea’s Cresemba (isavuconazole) to include China (with Hong Kong and Macao) and sixteen countries in the Asia Pacific region.
Isavuconazole is an antifungal for the treatment of lifethreatening invasive mold infections.
Ronald Scott, Chief Executive Officer of Basilea, said that Cresemba is a well differentiated drug that addresses a critical medical need in patients with invasive mold infections. He expressed contentment for expanding the partnership with Pfizer to China and Asia Pacific, pointing out that there it has a strong commercial presence and a proven track record of successfully developing and commercializing hospital antifungals.
Suneet Varma, Global President of Pfizer APAC, Greater China and Global Brands said: “We have now established partnerships for isavuconazole with leading pharmaceutical companies in all major markets around the world. We are excited to extend our partnership with Basilea, a company that shares our passion and commitment to confronting the global challenges of infectious disease management.”
“We believe our extensive geographic footprint in APAC and China together with our expertise in successfully commercializing innovative medicines will help enable us to continue to address the unmet medical needs of patients, especially in the area of anti-infectives.”
Basilea said that, under the terms of the amendment, it will receive an upfront payment of $3 million and is eligible to receive up to approximately $223 million additional payments upon achievement of pre-specified regulatory and commercial milestones related to China and the Asia Pacific region.
The company also said it will receive royalties in the mid-teen range on Pfizer’s sales in the territory.
Pfizer is granted an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize isavuconazole in China, Hong Kong and Macao, and sixteen countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, India, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.