AstraZeneca Partners with Amgen to Develop Inflammation Portfolio

AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish biopharmaceutical company has entered into an agreement with Amgen, US biotechnology company to develop and commercialise five monoclonal antibodies from Amgen's clinical inflammation portfolio.

According to the agreement, a one-time $50 million upfront payment will be made and also approximately 65 percent of costs for the 2012-2014 period will be financed by AstraZeneca. Both companies will equally bear the costs thereafter.

"We are delighted to join forces with Amgen in developing and commercialising these novel clinical-stage assets that add value to our pipeline and build on our expertise in biologics. This creative collaboration will make the most of both companies' respective capabilities, including AstraZeneca's extensive global reach, to help bring these potentially innovative treatment options for a variety of respiratory and inflammatory diseases to patients around the world," said AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan.

The partnership will provide the US biotechnology company additional resources to optimise its portfolio, and will benefit from the strong respiratory, inflammation and asthma development expertise of MedImmune, AstraZeneca's biologics division.

The alliance will also take advantage of global commercial reach in respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases of AstraZeneca. However, territories previously partnered by Amgen for brodalumab with Kyowa Hakko Kirin and AMG 557 with Takeda are not part of this agreement.