AstraZeneca sells off rights to Entocort to Tillotts Pharma

AstraZeneca has sold off the global rights to its gastroenterology medicine Entocort to Tillotts Pharma, excluding the US.

Tillotts will pay AstraZeneca $215 million (139.72 million pounds) upon completion of the transaction to acquire the rights to sell and develop Entocort capsules and enema formulations outside the US, with the transaction set to be completed in the second half of the year.

Entocort is designed as a treatment for patients with mild to moderate Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It is currently available in more than 40 countries, with total product sales of $53 million outside the US in 2014.

A regulatory submission for Entocort in Japan is anticipated in the coming months. In the US, AstraZeneca will continue to sell the product in partnership with Par Pharmaceutical.

Luke Miels, executive vice-president for global product and portfolio strategy and corporate affairs at AstraZeneca, said: "Our agreement with Tillotts reinforces our strategic focus on selected therapy areas and puts this important medicine in the hands of a company with specialist expertise in gastroenterology, which will benefit patients."