AstraZeneca, Abbott ink co-promotion Crestor deal

Abbott and AstraZeneca have entered into an agreement for Abbott to promote AstraZeneca's Crestor, a medication used along with diet to reduce high cholesterol.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott will obtain the non-exclusive right to promote Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) alongside Wilmington, Del.-based AstraZeneca in the U.S., excluding Puerto Rico. 

The companies did not disclose specific financial terms.

According to Abbott and AstraZeneca, Crestor is a once-daily prescription statin medication indicated for use as an adjunct to diet in the treatment of various lipid disorders including primary hyperlipidemia, mixed dyslipidemia and isolated hypertriglyceridemia, and to slow the progression of atherosclerosis in adult patients as part of a treatment strategy to lower Total-C and LDL-C to target levels.  CRESTOR is available in a 5-, 10-, 20-, and 40-mg dose.

This agreement is the second collaboration between AstraZeneca and Abbott. In 2006, the companies formed an agreement to develop a fixed-dose combination of the active ingredients in Abbott's investigational TriLipix (fenofibric acid) and AstraZeneca's Crestor, with plans to submit a new drug application (NDA) to the FDA in 2009. An NDA for TriLipix for use as monotherapy and in combination with statins has
been submitted to the FDA and is currently under review.

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