Lupin buys nasal steroid AllerNaze global rights from Collegium

Pharmaceutical major, Lupin Ltd acquired the global rights for AllerNaze (triamcinolone acetonide) from the US-based mid-size innovator company Collegium Pharmaceuticals.AllerNaze is an aqueous based intra-nasal steroid (INS) used mainly for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and perennial allergic rhinitis in adults and children of 12 years and above.

Collegium Pharmaceuticals had announced the approval of AllerNaze nasal spray, 50 mcg, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in January 2009.

Officials at Lupin refused disclose the payable amount but reports say that a down payment of $20-30 million may have been paid.

This sum excludes milestones-based payments that Lupin has to pay. The INS market alone generated around $2.5 billion in annual sales in the United States, and Lupin is now targeting the INS market.

AllerNaze will be Lupin’s third product in its oral branded portfolio and will be first launched in the United States. Lupin’s oral branded portfolio already has two products from Abbott and Sanofi Aventis.

“The exact percentage of milestones payments will be a function of sales. Initially, we plan to sell it in the US but, by 2011, we hope to start marketing it to other countries as well,” said S Ramesh, president (finance & planning).

“After US, Europe and Japan are big markets for this product,” he further added.

S Ramesh also said that the product will be manufactured in the US through toll manufacturers and the company also has long-term plans to transfer the production to India.

Lupin has currently employed a 60-person-strong field-force in the United States for its portfolio and will add another 60 depending on the sales of AllerNaze.

The pharma major now looks to strengthen its oral branded portfolio as it lightens volatility and price-related risks.

Collegium decided to sell the product in order to focus on dermatology.

Almost 35 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergic Rhinitis. AllerNaze has been successfully tested for treatment of both SAR and PAR with 14 controlled clinical trials involving almost 1,200 subjects.