AstraZeneca has formed a co-commercialization agreement with Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. for Movantik (naloxegol) in the US. Movantik is a once-daily oral peripherally-acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in adults with chronic non-cancer pain.

Movantik was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in September 2014. It was descheduled by the US Drug Enforcement Administration in January 2015 and is no longer labeled as a controlled substance. The launch of Movantik in the US is planned for early April 2015.

Under the terms of the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo Inc. will pay a $200 million up-front fee and subsequent sales-related payments of up to $625 million. AstraZeneca will be responsible for manufacturing, will book all sales and will make sales-related commission payments to Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. Both companies will be jointly responsible for commercial activities.

Moventig (naloxegol) also received marketing authorization from the European Commission in December 2014 for the treatment of OIC in adult patients who have had an inadequate response to laxative(s). Movantik/Moventig is part of the exclusive worldwide license agreement announced in 2009 between AstraZeneca and Nektar Therapeutics. It was developed using Nektar's oral small-molecule polymer conjugate technology.

Source: AstraZeneca