The Medicines Company completed its divestiture of three cardiovascular medications to Chiesi USA Inc. on June 21, one month after the companies agreed to the deal.
The Medicines Company said that it had received approximately $264 million in cash from Chiesi for the rights to sell clevidipine (Cleviprex), cangrelor (Kengreal) and argatroban. The company added that it could receive up to $480 million in sales-based milestone payments.
Chiesi also assumed up to $50 million in milestone payment obligations. Cangrelor, clevidipine and argatroban are all FDA-approved injectable medications for use in the hospital setting.
When The Medicines Company announced the transaction in May, CEO Clive Meanwell, MD, PhD, said that the medications were “non-core cardiovascular assets.” He added that the deal would help the company reduce expenses by between $65 million and $80 million and invest in four products in development including a proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor.
Chiesi USA Inc., a specialty pharmacy company, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italy-based Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.
“Kengreal and Cleviprex significantly expand our hospital portfolio in the United States, and this is why we chose to target them,"” Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. CEO Ugo Di Francesco said in a news release. “Acquiring these products fits with our global strategy of reinvesting in our businesses to help patients and to grow our company.”
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.