Biovail acquires rights for Ativan and Isordil from Wyeth
03-Jun-2003
-- anxiety treatment Ativan complements Biovail's growing CNS
franchise
-- Isordil further expands Biovail's cardiovascular product line
Biovail Corporation announced today that it has acquired U.S. rights to the Ativan(R) (lorazepam) and Isordil(R) (isosorbide dinitrate) oral product lines from Wyeth for $130 million and annual payments pursuant to a three year supply agreement. Sales of Ativan and Isordil in the U.S. were in excess of $50 million in 2002.
Ativan is a benzodiazepine, indicated for the management of anxiety disorders or for the short-term relief of anxiety or anxiety associated with depressive symptoms. The market for anxiety treatments was in excess of $11 billion for the 12 months ended December 2002. Isordil is a nitrate indicated for the prevention of angina-pectoris/order_t/'>angina pectoris due to coronary artery disease. Sales of nitrate products were in excess of $360 million for the 12 months ended December 2002.
Biovail believes there are significant market opportunities to expand the Ativan brand in the U.S. with an already formulated sublingual formulation as well as other line extension products and potential new indications for this well-respected medication. Biovail has also licensed data and technical know-how for the manufacturing and marketing in the U.S. of a sublingual formulation of Ativan, which is currently marketed in Canada. Wyeth will receive a milestone payment on the development by Biovail of an Ativan product line extension and royalties on the future sales of any Ativan product line extensions developed and marketed by Biovail in the U.S.
"The acquisition of Ativan and Isordil is another example of the execution of Biovail's business model," commented Eugene Melnyk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Biovail. "These products have tremendous brand equity and strategically complement two of the Company's target therapeutic areas. Isordil complements and enhances the current offerings of our cardiovascular portfolio and Ativan is one of the most well respected brand names amongst anxiety treatments. The acquisition of Ativan provides Biovail with several future life cycle product opportunities including a sublingual product or other orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) formulations. Furthermore, Biovail is considering new indications for Ativan. We believe that an ODT such as the sublingual or a FlashDose(R) formulation will provide patients with the convenience of a medication that can be easily administered and may be more ideally suited for certain additional clinical uses of Ativan."
Total market prescriptions for orally administered benzodiazepines in 2002 were in excess of 70 million, having grown 3% over 2001. Benzodiazepines, as a class of anti-anxiety agents, continue to record strong prescription volumes, as their value to the treatment of anxiety is maintained even with the approval of products such as Paxil(R) and Effexor XR(R) for Generalized and Social Anxiety Disorders. Total lorazepam represents the second most widely prescribed benzodiazepine, with approximately 21 million prescriptions, or 30% market share, for the twelve months ended December 2002 and growing at 3% per year.
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