NitroMed to sell BiDil business to JHP

JHP Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company, has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets related to fellow USA-based NitroMed's BiDil drug business.

The purchase and sale accord provides that NitroMed will receive a consideration of $24.5 million in cash, subject to an accounts-receivable adjustment, plus up to an additional $1.8 million for closing date inventory. JHP will assume all but specified liabilities related to the transferred assets. BiDil (isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine HCl) is an orally-administered medicine approved in the USA for the treatment of heart failure in self-identified black patients as an adjunct to current standard therapies. The two firms currently expect to complete the transaction in early 2009.