Menarini extends febuxostat accord to more regions

Japanese drugmaker Teijin Pharma and privately-owned Italian pharmaceutical company Menarini have signed an exclusive distributorship agreement for the marketing of febuxostat, a novel drug developed by Teijin for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout, in Central and South America, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Oceania. Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed.

Menarini has been marketing febuxostat as Adenuric in Europe since March 2010 under marketing rights granted by licensee French drugmaker Ipsen, which earned the latter an upfront fee of 132 million euros ($172.4 million at current exchange rates; The Pharma Letter October 20, 2009). Japanese drug major Astellas has rights to the drug in most of Asia and also India.

Gets rights in 26 new markets