Abbott receives milestone payment from Solvay

Solvay has announced that it has paid a $100 million (49.3 million pound) milestone payment to Abbott as a result of progress in the regulatory process of Simcor (Niaspan/simvastatin).

Simcor is a fixed-dose combination lipid therapy developed by Abbott in the US for which Solvay Pharmaceuticals was granted co-promotion rights as a result of an agreement announced last October.

The milestone payment and initiation of co-promotion work between the firms was triggered by the decision of the US Food and Drug Administration to grant marketing approval for the drug.

In addition to this initial sum, as of the first quarter of this year Solvay will also begin contributing to the commercial expenses of the drug.

The compounds combines two already available drugs, Niaspan and simvastatin, in order to target a number of lipid parameters in a single pill.

Laurence Downey, president and chief executive officer of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, said: “The treatment of cardiometabolic diseases is one of Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ strategic therapeutic areas.”

He added that the firm is excited about its partnership with Abbott on Simcor, which will expand on the companies’ earlier collaboration on TriCor and help expand the firm’s presence in the UK.

Last month, Abbott stressed the importance of increasing HDL cholesterol in addition to reducing LDL cholesterol as part of overall cholesterol management.