AstraZeneca: sells European Crestor rights to Grunenthal

(CercleFinance.com) - AstraZeneca said on Tuesday that it is selling the European rights to its lipid-lowering drug Crestor to Germany's Grunenthal for 320 million dollars.


The move comes as part of a strategy implemented by the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker to sell mature products to focus on more dynamic areas, such as oncology, renal diseases and immunology.

AstraZeneca said it has agreed to sell the rights to Crestor for over 30 countries in Europe (except the UK and Spain). It will continue marketing the medicine in North America, in Japan, China and certain emerging markets.

In 2019, Crestor generated sales of 136 million dollars and pre-tax profit of 98 million dollars in the countries covered by the transaction.

AstraZeneca said its outlook for the year would not change as a result of the deal, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.

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