Actavis, a global leader in the generic pharmaceuticals industry, yesterday announced it has entered into a binding letter of intent with QRxPharma to launch MoxDuo® IR in the United States.
Under the agreed terms, the Iceland-based Actavis gets exclusive rights to launch and market MoxDuo® IR, a patented 3:2 ratio fixed dose combination of morphine and oxycodone, for the U.S. acute pain market. The product launch in the U.S. is expected in the third quarter of 2012.
“This partnership represents a major step in our strategy to further strengthen our position as one of the major players in the segment of pain management in the U.S.. Furthermore, as this latest development highlights, Actavis is serious in its quest to be ahead of the changing generic pharmaceutical industry,” explained Claudio Albrecht, CEO of Actavis.
Albrecht continued, “In the future, there will not be such a clear difference between innovator and generic companies. The lines between the two models are blurring. The generics business as we know it today will be gone within the next ten years.”
The generic pharmaceuticals company intends for MoxDuo® IR to be a flagship product in the Company’s growing pain management franchise. This transaction builds upon Actavis’ success with the currently marketed Kadian® Extended Release Morphine Sulfate capsules, and a broad array of generic scheduled narcotics offerings.
Kadian® has been manufactured by the Company for 15 years and marketed by Actavis since 2008. The Company’s analgesic sales force for its branded products will expand significantly and have MoxDuo® IR as a primary focus in the U.S. pain market.