Dec. 03, 2019: AstraZeneca has agreed to put up for sale the commercial rights to Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate immediate release) and Seroquel XR (quetiapine fumarate extended release) in the US and Canada to Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH (Cheplapharm).
Seroquel and Seroquel XR are used mainly to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, have lost their compound patent protection in the US and Canada.This divestment reduces the number of mature medicines to enable reinvestment in main therapy areas.
Cheplapharm recently decided to acquire the commercial rights to Seroquel and Seroquel XR in most of the European markets and Russia from AstraZeneca.
Cheplapharm will make an candid payment of $35m to AstraZeneca and may also make future sales-contingent payments of up to $6m.
https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2019/astrazeneca-divests-rights-to-seroquel-and-seroquel-xr-in-the-us-and-canada-03122019.html