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WILMINGTON, Del. & PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and The Medicines Company (NASDAQ: MDCO) announced today a global collaboration for acute ischemic heart disease compounds. The first part of this collaboration is a US co-promotion for AstraZeneca’s oral antiplatelet medicine BRILINTA®(ticagrelor) tablets. Under the terms of the co-promotion agreement, The Medicines Company sales force will begin supporting BRILINTA in May 2012. This will complement the AstraZeneca sales team’s promotion of BRILINTA to US hospital customers and practitioners whose patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) may benefit from this important therapy.
“The Medicines Company is a respected organization with a strong network in interventional cardiology," said Lisa Schoenberg, Vice President, US Sales and Marketing, Growth Portfolio, AstraZeneca. “We have laid the groundwork for BRILINTA in the US with strong managed market access as well as hospital formulary and protocol access such that now is the right time to bring this important medicine to more patients with ACS through additional support in the acute setting.”
Under the terms of the global collaboration, a joint development committee and a joint commercialization committee have been established to prepare and deliver global development and commercialization plans related to AstraZeneca’s BRILINTA and The Medicines Company’s Angiomax®(bivalirudin) for injection and cangrelor, which is in development as an acute intravenous antiplatelet agent. Implementation of these plans is subject to further agreements between both parties.
The agreement also outlines terms for the four-year US BRILINTA co-promotion agreement in which AstraZeneca will pay The Medicines Company $15 million per year for performing pre-agreed commercialization activities with up to an additional $5 million per year paid if performance thresholds are met.
“Our goal in joining this global collaboration with AstraZeneca is to help improve patient care with a comprehensive suite of solutions for acute ischemic heart disease,” said Brent Furse, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer of The Medicines Company. “This opportunity aligns with our vision to lead in acute, intensive care hospital medicine globally.”
BRILINTA is the first and only oral antiplatelet FDA-approved to significantly reduce cardiovascular (CV) death vs clopidogrel in patients with ACS. The FDA-approved label describes the efficacy and safety of BRILINTA, as compared to clopidogrel.
BRILINTA is indicated to reduce the rate of thrombotic CV events in patients with ACS (unstable angina [UA], non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction [NSTEMI], or ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI]). BRILINTA has been shown to reduce the rate of a combined end point of CV death, MI, or stroke compared to clopidogrel. The difference between treatments was driven by CV death and MI with no difference in stroke. In patients treated with an artery-opening procedure known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), BRILINTA reduces the rate of stent thrombosis.
BRILINTA has been studied in ACS in combination with aspirin. Maintenance doses of aspirin above 100 mg decreased the effectiveness of BRILINTA. Avoid maintenance doses of aspirin above 100 mg daily.
BRILINTA is an important advance for patients with ACS and physicians, as it is a more effective treatment than clopidogrel, to reduce the rate of heart attack and CV death. BRILINTA is approved to be used with low-dose aspirin.
In February 2012, the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) updated its guidelines on Antithrombotic Therapy and Prevention of Thrombosis to include a recommendation for giving BRILINTA with low-dose aspirin to patients in the first year after an ACS. This is the first time that clinical treatment guidelines in the US have specifically suggested use of BRILINTA over clopidogrel.
In November 2011, a combined expert committee from American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) updated its guidelines for the management of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), to provide a Class I recommendation for giving BRILINTA to patients undergoing PCI with stenting. A Class I recommendation is the highest recommendation provided by the guidelines committee and is defined as a "procedure/treatment that should be performed/administered" to patients, given it was found to be "useful/effective/beneficial." Additionally, AHA/ACCF also revised their Guidelines on Secondary Prevention and Risk Reduction Therapy to include BRILINTA, in combination with low-dose aspirin to be taken twice daily for at least 12 months in patients receiving a bare-metal stent (BMS) or drug-eluting stent (DES) during PCI for ACS.
AstraZeneca US Media Inquiries
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The Medicines Company Inquiries
Michael Mitchell, +1 973-290-6097