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Iconovo’s CEO on the extended agreement with Amneal

Iconovo’s CEO on the extended agreement with Amneal

17 May, 2021

Last week, Iconovo announced that the US and China have been added to the agreement with Amneal regarding sales of a generic version of Symbicort in the ICOres inhaler. The extended agreement covers 90 percent of the global Symbicort market, doubling the expected annual royalty revenue from Amneal. Iconovo also takes over the sales rights in the Nordic region for the generic product and therefore starts a new pharmaceutical division called Iconovo Pharma. BioStock reached out to the company’s CEO Johan Wäborg for a comment.

Iconovo develops complete inhalation products, i.e. both inhalers and associated dry powder preparations. One of the company’s inhalation products is ICOres, a multi-dose inhaler with two separate reservoirs. In addition, the inhaler provides visual feedback on the number of remaining doses and that the dose has been inhaled correctly.

Development project together with Amneal

Together with the US pharmaceutical company Amneal, Iconovo is developing a generic Symbicort in ICOres. The development project is now entering the final phase and Amneal has begun the set-up of commercial manufacturing.

Last week Iconovo announced that the agreement with Amneal has been extended to include the USA and China, two very valuable markets. The original agreement already covered sales in Europe, Canada, Australia, Russia and some smaller emerging markets.

Extended agreement doubles royalty opportunities

Under the expanded agreement, Amneal will have the rights to sell and market a generic ICOres Symbicort in markets covering about 90 percent of the total Symbicort market. The extended agreement leads to a doubling of the potential future annual royalty revenues to SEK 110 –220 million (USD 13.2 million – USD 26.4 million). Financially, the extended agreement with Amneal is an important event for Iconovo, according to CEO Johan Wäborg:

»We are very pleased to have been able to expand our agreement with Amneal. It is a very strong and positive signal that Symbicort in the ICOres inhaler is a product with great international potential. Financially, this is an important event for Iconovo« – Johan Wäborg, CEO of Iconovo 

Pharmaceutical division in the Nordics

With the new agreement with Amneal, Iconovo acquires the license to sell generic versions of Symbicort in the Nordic region. According to the company, the Nordic market for Symbicort amounted to SEK 800 million in 2020, which means that there is great market potential for Iconovo/Amneal’s generic version of Symbicort in ICOres. Iconovo estimates that they can reach a market share of 15-20 percent, which could generate revenues of between SEK 80 and 100 million per year, according to the company.

In connection with this, Iconovo starts the pharmaceutical division Iconovo Pharma, which will carry out marketing and sales of the generic product in the Nordic countries.

Iconovo’s CEO comments

Johan Wäborg, CEO of Iconovo

BioStock reached out to Iconovo’s CEO Johan Wäborg to learn more about the extended agreement withAmneal, as well as the newly started pharmaceutical company Iconovo Pharma.

First of all, how significant is the agreement with Amneal regarding ICOres?

– It is a very significant agreement in many ways. It is the one of our projects that is closest to launch, which is scheduled to take place in 2023 in Europe. In addition, Symbicort is a major product globally with approximately USD 3 billion in sales, so to get maximised global coverage is of great importance and increases the potential of our future royalty revenue.

You have also taken over the rights from Amneal to market and sell ICOres Symbicort in the Nordic market. What lead to this decision and what does it mean for Iconovo’s long-term strategy in the Nordic region?

– We have a unique position in the global inhalation market and extensive knowledge in the field of dry powder inhalation. Based on this position, we believe that establishing our own sales is a winning concept. Selling pharmaceuticals in selected markets is a way to maximize our share of the value chain and thus get even more value from our innovation.

– I have been involved in sales of pharmaceuticals and have also led Nordic pharmaceutical companies for most of my working life, it is my home ground, so expanding our strategy in this way feels obvious to me.

What is on the agenda for the rest of 2021? 

– We will continue to deliver towards our communicated goals, which among other things, means developing ICOpre with five preparations. We will also continue to deliver in our projects and support the projects that enter into clinical studies this year.

– We also have a goal of signing two new agreements this year. Already in March, we entered an agreement with ISR regarding an inhaled Covid-19 vaccine in ICOone. The extended agreement with Amneal is, of course, extremely important and partly new, but we will continue our quest for even more agreements this year.

The content of BioStock’s news and analyses is independent but the work of BioStock is to a certain degree financed by life science companies. The above article concerns a company from which BioStock has received financing.

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