Amgen has expanded its commercial collaboration with Novartis for erenumab, which is being evaluated for migraine prevention.
The companies will work together to commercialize erenumab in the United States, according to Amgen press release.
“Erenumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody specifically designed to target and block the Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) receptor, believed to have a critical role in mediating the incapacitating pain of migraine," according to the release.
Novartis and Amgen have had a neuroscience partnership since 2015 to work toward the commercialization of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and migraine.
As part of its broadened partnership, Amgen said it will keep its exclusive commercialization rights to erenumab in Japan, while Novartis will have exclusive rights to commercialize erenumab in Canada, along with its commercialization rights in the remainder of the world. The deal also calls for Amgen to earn milestone payments from Novartis beginning this year, and both companies will share U.S. commercialization costs.
“Migraine is a debilitating disease and today many patients are sub-optimally treated due to tolerability issues with existing therapies,” Anthony Hooper, executive vice president of global commercial operations at Amgen, said in the release.
“Combining the U.S. capabilities of Amgen and Novartis in preparation for the launch of erenumab can create meaningful value over the life of this first-in-class program by enabling us to more effectively, and perhaps even more rapidly, reach people who live with the impact of migraine on a daily basis,” Hooper said.
