Rebounding from its failed Onyx courtship, Amgen announced Tuesday that it has paired up with Servier in a deal that will give it some heft in the cardiovascular space. The collaboration, which garners a $50-million signing fee for Servier, gives Amgen commercial rights to the oral chronic heart failure drug ivabradine, which is approved in the EU under the brand name Procoralan, as well as the exclusive option to develop Servier’s S38844, a Phase II heart failure drug. In exchange, Servier scored rights to commercialize Amgen’s Phase II heart failure drug omecamtiv in Europe.
Indian generic drug maker Wockhardt has been locked out of European drug markets. Bloomberg reports that the drug maker’s Waluj factory failed to meet UK guidelines. The FDA shut down the company’s US distribution from this same plant in May, a move Bloomberg said is forecast to cost the manufacturer around $100 million in sales.
