AstraZeneca’s “Smart Risks” Include Sharing FibroGen’s Anemia Compound With Astellas

01 Aug 2013

• By Paul Bonanos

The British pharma continues to build its cardiovascular and metabolic pipeline to slow its dive off the patent cliff; in FibroGen’s FG-4592, it sees a potential strong seller in regions where the privately held biotech's other pharma partner, Astellas, doesn’t already own rights.

AstraZeneca PLC became the second pharma to bet that FibroGen Inc.’s lead anemia program will produce a blockbuster, when it took geographic rights to the drug FG-4592 for $350 million up front.

The British pharma acquired rights to the oral compound in the U.S., China, and other unspecified major markets in a...