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H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) announced today a revised agreement with its partner in China, Xian-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Xian-Janssen), that change the terms from the current license agreement for Lexapro® to a co-promotion agreement.
The new agreement also means that both parties will invest substantially in more joint sales and marketing efforts for Lexapro® in China.
Lundbeck plans to double its current sales organisation in China and the new joint sales efforts behind Lexapro® is to be further expanded in the coming years.
The agreements provide for a highly competitive share of voice in the Chinese market for anti-depressants.
Lundbeck has had products available in China since 1996 and currently Lexapro® is exclusively promoted by Xian-Janssen.
Lundbeck’s current sales force of approximately 50 sales representatives is promoting Ebixa® and is also expected to initiate marketing of Azilect® in a couple of years, which is pending approval.
“With the new agreement with our partner, we get an opportunity to strongly expand our activities in China and to further strengthen our commercial platform in this promising region,” says Ole Chrintz, Senior Vice President, International Markets at Lundbeck.
“The pharmaceutical market in China, and the CNS market in particular, is undergoing a rapid development and represents a substantial commercial opportunity that could contribute meaningfully to Lundbeck’s future.”
Though only being the fifth largest market today, China is emerging as one of the most important markets for growth for the pharmaceutical industry as the Chinese government is in the midst of expanding the access to healthcare in the country.
The CNS market in China is developing rapidly and is growing faster than the Chinese pharmaceutical market in general.
By entering a co-promotion agreement, Lundbeck is to increase its value share of its anti-depressants in China and to significantly increase the share-of-voice for Lexapro® in China.
The financial terms of the collaboration are undisclosed.
