AstraZeneca sells right to heart failure, blood pressure drugs for $400 million

(Reuters) – British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said on Friday it would sell commercial rights for two of its heart failure and blood pressure medicines to German pharmaceutical company Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH for $400 million.

Cheplapharm, which already holds the European rights for Atacand and Atacand Plus since 2018, can sell now them in around 70 countries under the deal.

Atacand is a prescription drug approved to treat heart failure and hypertension, while Atacand Plus is used for hypertension.

The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter, will not impact its 2020 financial forecast, AstraZeneca said.

The company said $250 million of the $400 million consideration will be payable on deal completion, with the remainder in the first half of 2021.

AstraZeneca will manufacture and supply both the medicines and commercialise them during a three-year transition period, the company said.

(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)