Schering AG, Germany announced today that, following regulatory approvals, it will co-promote the novel oral angiogenesis inhibitor PTK787/ZK 222584 (PTK/ZK) for all oncology indications together with Novartis Pharma AG in Europe, North America and Japan. This agreement will enable both Schering and Novartis to maximize the compound's full potential.
An initial research collaboration agreement gave Schering exclusive marketing rights in Europe, while Novartis held corresponding rights for North America.
Under the new agreement, Schering and Novartis will join forces in each of the major markets of the world. The value of the agreement for Schering and Novartis is designed to be equal based on the co-promotion terms and territory allocations. Schering will become the lead partner in Europe while Novartis will be the lead partner in North America. The lead partner will bear the larger part of costs and resources, and will thus retain a correspondingly larger percentage of the profits. For Japan, costs and profits will be shared equally by Schering and Novartis. In Latin America, Africa and Australia Schering will exclusively market PTK/ZK. Novartis will exclusively market the product in Asia, excluding Japan. Additional details of the agreement were not disclosed.