Merck Sharp and Dohme sells ophthalmology drug rights to Santen

Merck Sharp and Dohme has announced the sale of a number of its ophthalmology products to Santen Pharmaceutical in certain regions.

The deal will see Santen pay an upfront fee of $600 million (355.99 million pounds) in exchange for rights to Cosopt, Cosopt PF, Trusopt, Trusopt PF, Timoptic, Timoptic PF, Timoptic XE, Saflutan and Taptiqom in Japan and key markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Annual sales of the products in these markets come to approximately $400 million. Santen will also purchase supply of the ophthalmology products covered by this agreement from Merck for a two to five-year period.

This comes after Merck sold its US ophthalmology business to Akorn Pharmaceuticals last year and represents the latest step in its ongoing efforts to refine its business focus.

Jay Galeota, president for hospital and specialty care at Merck Sharp and Dohme, said: "This transaction provides products that complement Santen's portfolio and is designed to ensure continued access for physicians and patients to these medicines around the world."

This also follows the sale of Merck's consumer care division to Bayer for $14.2 billion earlier in the month.