Forest Laboratories buys hypertension drug rights from J&J for $357 mn

US-based pharmaceutical company Forest Laboratories Inc today acquired Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica's intellectual property rights to hypertension drug Bystolic, for $357 million in cash.

The purchase of the intellectual property rights to Bystolic will eliminate the need to pay future royalties by Forest to J&J.

Under the terms of the deal, Forest will buy from Janssen all US patents and other US and Canadian know-how covering Bystolic, including the nebivolol composition of matter patent in the US.

Forest and J&J have also terminated the licenses in Canada for Bystolic and Savella, a treatment for fibromyalgia.

 New York-based Forest has established a Canadian subsidiary that will take over the registration and commercialisation of both drugs.

Bystolic, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2007 for the treatment of hypertension, is a once-daily medication effective at lowering blood pressure when taken alone or in combination with other high blood pressure medications.

Nebivolol is approved and marketed in 60 countries outside of North America.

Last month Forest and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV filed suit against several companies alleging infringement of a Bystolic patent that expires in December 2021.
The suit was filed against Amerigen Pharmaceuticals, Glenmark Generics, Hetero USA, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Watson Laboratories.