Biovail Acquires Worldwide Drug Rights to Tetrabenazine

Biovail has agreed to acquire worldwide development and marketing rights to the entire portfolio of tetrabenazine drugs from Cambridge Laboratories for $230m.

Biovail will acquire the drugs used in the treatment of chorea (a symptom of Huntington's disease) to focus on treating disorders of the central nervous system (CNS).

In 2008, the company made its first foray into the CNS disorder speciality market by acquiring Canadian and US licensing rights to the drug Xenazine, through purchasing Prestwick Pharmaceuticals.

Biovail CEO Bill Wells said that the acquisition would immediately be accretive to revenues, margins and operating cash flows, and is anticipated to be moderately accretive to GAAP earnings per share in 2010.

To complete the present deal, Biovail will also pay another $30m in two tranches over the next two years. The acquisition, as per the company, includes a controlled-release formulation of tetrabenazine in development for Tourette syndrome, as well as a tetrabenazine-derived new chemical entity that may enter mid-stage clinical development in the next one year.

Following the acquisition, Biovail will gain a broad range of intellectual property rights for the product portfolio.