Orion acquires sales and distribution rights for certain European Countries for Parkinson's disease drug Stalevo

Orion Corporation and Novartis Pharma AG have agreed that Novartis will return the sales and distribution rights in certain European countries for Parkinson's disease drug Stalevo® to Orion.

The sales and distribution rights in certain European countries for the proprietary product Stalevo® (active pharmaceutical ingredients: levodopa, carbidopa, entacapone), which has been patented and developed by Orion for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, transfer from Novartis to Orion as of 3 December 2018.

Central nervous system (CNS) disorders are one of Orion's three core therapy areas, and, measured by net sales, Parkinson's disease drugs are Orion's largest family of pharmaceutical preparations. Stalevo has been on the market since 2003.

Orion has been responsible for selling and marketing Stalevo in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Under the concluded agreement, the sales and marketing rights for Stalevo will transfer back to Orion in another 18 EU countries and also some European countries outside of the EU. Novartis will continue to be Orion's sales and distribution partner in Switzerland.

Orion's target is to continue persistent actions to generate growth. The repatriation of the sales rights for Stalevo reinforces Orion's growth targets in Europe. In conjunction with the signing of the agreement, Orion will pay 24.5 Million US Dollars for the transfer by the sales rights for Stalevo. Orion estimates that as a result of the return of the rights Orion's Stalevo sales may increase initially by about EUR 20 million on annual level.

"The fact that the developer and manufacturer of the drug is also responsible for the sale and distribution of the product in its entire domestic market area in Europe further highlights Orion's role as a major pharmaceutical company focusing on central nervous system disorders. I also believe that this arrangement will enable us to further improve delivery reliability and customer service throughout Europe," says Markku Huhta-Koivisto, SVP for Growth Projects at Orion.