Valeant Canada, a subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE, TSX: VRX), will commercialize Orexigen Therapeutics’ (NASDAQ:OREX) Contrave (naltrexone HCl / bupropion HCl extended release) in Canada.
Under the accord, Valeant will be responsible for obtaining Canadian regulatory approval and for all commercialization activity and expenses. Orexigen will supply Contrave tablets to Valeant Canada or its affiliates for an agreed transfer price and certain potential regulatory and sales milestone payments. Orexigen expects Valeant to file with Health Canada for regulatory approval by January 2017.
“Valeant Canada has a growing portfolio of innovative medicines addressing cardiometabolic disease, as well as strong regulatory and commercial capabilities, and we believe they are an ideal partner for Contrave in Canada,” Mike Narachi, CEO of Orexigen, said in a statement.
“Partnering with strong pharmaceutical companies outside the U.S. supports our global mission to improve the health and lives of patients struggling to lose weight and allows Orexigen to realize the global value of Contrave / Mysimba,” he added.
Orexigen and Valeant previously announced a commercialization agreement for Mysimba (naltrexone HCl / bupropion HCl prolonged release) in 19 countries in Central and Eastern Europe in March 2016. Orexigen and Valeant anticipate launching Mysimba in 11 countries in the fourth quarter of 2016, to be followed by two additional countries in the first quarter of 2017.
