AstraZeneca makes first payment to Avanir

The US drug developer Avanir Pharmaceuticals received its first $5 million payment from AstraZeneca as early stage clinical trials on a new cholesterol drug have commenced.

The payment marks the first milestone met by Avanir in an agreement made between the two companies in July last year to develop and commercialise Reverse Cholesterol Transport (RCT) enhancing compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

As a part of the agreement Avanir took an upfront payment of $10 million and could be eligible to $330 million if further milestones are met.

Avanir is currently developing the process of Reverse Cholesterol Transport (RCT), where cholesterol can be removed from body tissues into the liver and then to the gall bladder to be excreted.

The payment comes as the RCT drug AZD2479 has now entered Phase I of testing after the US Food and Drug Administration gave the investigational new drug application (IND).

Gunnar Olsson, vice-president of AstraZeneca, said: “We are pleased that we successfully submitted the U.S. IND for AZD2479 in a timely way. The FDA’s allowance of the IND is recognition of effective high quality work by the combined Avanir-AstraZeneca team.”

© Adfero Ltd