Millennium and Ortho Biotech Enter into U.S. Co-Promotion Agreement for VELCADE(R)(bortezomib) for Injection
Thursday October 26, 7:00 am ET
- Two-year agreement leverages one of industry's largest oncology sales forces to significantly increase effort behind market-leading therapy -
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MLNM - News) and Ortho Biotech Inc. announced today that the companies have entered into a two-year agreement to jointly promote VELCADE in the U.S. VELCADE is the leading cancer therapeutic used to treat patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.
"With this expanded educational effort behind VELCADE, we believe clinicians will be reached more frequently and more patients will have access to this important drug," said Christophe Bianchi, M.D., Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations, Millennium. "We have seen that physician education is a key driver of growth for VELCADE, as evidenced by the impact of our recently expanded field force. This collaboration, with the well-established Ortho Biotech oncology group, will help us to realize the full potential of the product."
Under the terms of the agreement, Ortho Biotech will join Millennium in the first quarter of 2007 to promote VELCADE to U.S.-based physicians who treat multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy. The Ortho Biotech sales force will dedicate a pre-specified amount of effort selling VELCADE. Millennium will pay a percentage of the VELCADE related costs for the Ortho Biotech sales force. Ortho Biotech will be entitled to receive a commission on the incremental sales that exceed pre-specified targets. Millennium will continue to be responsible for commercialization, manufacturing and distribution of VELCADE in the U.S. The current agreement between Millennium and Ortho Biotech for the promotion of VELCADE outside the U.S. remains unchanged.
VELCADE is a first-in-class, market-leading product that provides an unmatched median survival of 29.8 months to relapsed multiple myeloma patients. Millennium was recently granted priority review with a PDUFA date of December 9, 2006 by the FDA for its supplementary new drug application covering VELCADE for relapsed mantle cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of NHL for which there is no current standard of treatment. Phase III trials are ongoing in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients and relapsed follicular and marginal zone lymphoma patients. More than 300 trials are ongoing or planned to explore the potential of VELCADE in other cancers. |
