AstraZeneca’s licensing agreement for Tralokinumab, Brodalumab with Leo Pharma

AstraZeneca pacts with licensing agreements covering two of its drug candidates with Leo Pharma, giving it global rights to skin disease indications for tralokinumab as well as European rights to brodalumab for psoriasis.

The licensing deal for tralokinumab alone could generate more than $1 billion for AstraZeneca, which has spent recent months unloading noncore assets to generate cash and focus more closely on treatments in its core therapeutic areas.

Tralokinumab is an anti-interleukin-13 (IL-13) monoclonal antibody that has completed a Phase IIb trial for the treatment of patients with atopic dermatitis. Tralokinumab is also in Phase III development for patients with severe asthma.

In return for gaining exclusive tralokinumab rights for dermatology indications, Leo Pharma agreed to pay AstraZeneca $115 million upfront, as well as up to $1 billion in payments tied to achieving commercial milestones, and percentage royalties on product sales.

This agreement allows us to concentrate  tralokinumab’s potential for patients with severe asthma, a priority area for AstraZeneca, while benefitting from Leo Pharma’s expertise in dermatology for the continued development and commercialization of tralokinumab in atopic dermatitis and other dermatology conditions.

AstraZeneca said it will manufacture and supply tralokinumab to Leo Pharma and will retain all rights to the drug candidate in respiratory disease and any other indications outside of dermatology.

The tralokinumab partnership expands Leo Pharma’s dermatology offerings to include biologics.

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AstraZeneca also signed a licensing deal giving Leo Pharma European rights to brodalumab, an IL-17 receptor monoclonal antibody under regulatory review for patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, as well as for psoriatic arthritis.

Those rights were part of a global up-to-$445 million licensing agreement for brodalumab that AstraZeneca signed last September with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. AstraZeneca and Valeant have agreed to terminate the European rights portion of that agreement, while Valeant will continue to develop and commercialize brodalumab in the U.S. and other markets covered by the original deal.

Leo Pharma agreed to license European rights to brodalumab under similar terms to those agreed with Valeant, AstraZeneca said, while Amgen will continue to receive a low single-digit inventor royalty.