Novartis steps in to compete with Mylan’s Epipen

Adamis Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:ADMP) said this week that it inked an exclusive deal with Novartis‘ (NYSE:NVS) Sandoz unit to distribute and commercialize its Symjepi emergency allergy treatment.

The agreement puts Novartis in the position to compete directly with Mylan‘s (NSDQ:MYL) EpiPen auto-injector. The pharma giant has been under pressure in recent months thanks to manufacturing delays that have caused an Epipen shortage in the U.S.

According to the terms of the deal, Sandoz is slated to pay an upfront fee and performance-based milestone payments in exchange for U.S. commercial rights to Symjepi. Adamis and Sandoz plan to share the profits generated from sales of Symjepi in the U.S.

Although Adamis plans to retain the right to commercialize its Symjepi epinephrine injection in territories outside the U.S., its deal with Sandoz gives the Novartis unit the first right of negotiation for those territories.

“We are very excited about our collaboration with Sandoz.  They are among the top pharmaceutical companies in the world and we believe they have the commercial presence and proven track record to maximize the value of Symjepi,” Adamis president & CEO Dennis Carlo said in prepared remarks. “We believe the financial terms of this agreement have the potential to bring meaningful recurring revenue to Adamis and we look forward to growing, and possibly expanding, this partnership with Sandoz based on the future success of Symjepi in the market.”

Earlier this year, Adamis touted data from an 82-person human factors study assessing the participants’ ability to open Symjepi’s case, retrieve the prefilled syringe, remove the needle cap, insert the needle into the thigh and press the plunger until it stopped.

All of the study’s participants successfully opened the case, retrieved the syringe and removed the needle cap, while 93% of them correctly inserted the needle into their thigh and 99% of them pushed the plunger until it stopped, Adamis reported.

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