Dr Reddy's buys fondaparinux IP rights from Australia's Alchemia

Dr Reddy's Laboratories today announced that it has completed the purchase of worldwide exclusive intellectual property rights for fondaparinux sodium, its generic anti-coagulant drug, from its Australian partner, Alchemia Limited. In September 2015, the company had signed a term sheet for this transaction. 
 
Alchemia’s shareholders approved the sale of fondaparinux on 10 November 2015, after which Dr Reddy’s and Alchemia have executed a purchase and sale agreement, together with various patent assignment deeds. Alchemia has received $ 17.5 million from Dr Reddy’s as consideration for the sale. The agreement is effective July 2015. 
 
Fondaparinux is a generic version of the anticoagulant drug Arixtra, which is approved in the US and Europe for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Arixtra is also indicated for the prevention of DVT after major surgery, such as knee and hip replacement. Fondaparinux is a synthetic pentasaccharide which is difficult to manufacture on a commercial scale. Alchemia has granted patents over novel synthetic pathways that prevent others from using Alchemia’s proprietary process to manufacture fondaparinux until at least 2022.