Anacor And Sandoz Enter $40 Million Partnership For Antifungal Solution

Anacor Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz have inked an agreement, in which Sandoz’s dermatology business PharmaDerm will distribute and commercialize Anacor's antifungal drug Kerydin (tavaborole) topical solution in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the solution for the treatment of onychomycosis of the toenails earlier this month.

According to Anacor’s announcement on Monday, the terms of the contract are as follows:

• Anacor, through its contract manufacturers, will supply the product to Sandoz at cost
• Sandoz will be responsible for all of the selling, marketing, distribution, general, and administrative costs related to the commercialization of Kerydin.
• Anacor will hold the NDA and will be responsible for any further development of Kerydin.

Under the financial end of the agreement, Anacor will be paid upfront payments totaling $40 million along with an additional milestone payment of $25 million that is expected in January 2015. In addition, Sandoz and Anacor will be under a long-term profit-sharing arrangement, which includes cumulative minimum profit-sharing payments to Anacor in 2016 totaling $45 million. Anacor also retains the options to repurchase rights to Kerydin from Sandoz three years from launch, or December 31, 2017, at a price that will be determined.

"We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Sandoz to commercialize Kerydin in the U.S. through PharmaDerm," Paul Berns, CEO of Anacor Pharmaceuticals, said of the agreement. "PharmaDerm's dedication to branded prescription products to treat dermatological and podiatric diseases makes it an ideal collaborator to launch Kerydin. In addition, PharmaDerm has an experienced sales force which will be able to reach the specialty physicians who treat large numbers of patients with onychomycosis."

Kerydin is the first oxaborole antifungal approved for the topical treatment of onychomycosis of the toenails, described as “a fungal infection of the nail and nail bed,” Anacor said in a company announcement. This condition affects 6 to 12 percent of the population, with 35 million in the U.S. alone. “There has been a sevenfold increase in cases over the last 20 years,” according to Podiatry Today.