Date: Jun 11, 2013 Author: John George Source: bizjournals (
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OraSure Technologies could earn more than $130 million under a co-promotion deal for its point-of-care hepatitis C diagnostic test. It signed the deal on Wednesday with AbbVie.
Under the agreement, which runs through Dec. 31, 2019, AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), a Chicago pharmaceutical company, agreed to pay OraSure (Nasdaq:OSUR) of Bethlehem, Pa., up to $75 million for exclusive promotion rights to the OraQuick HCV test in certain undisclosed markets.
The product, which provides results in 20 minutes, will be used to test individuals at-risk for hepatitis C.
According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, OraSure's will also be eligible to receive additional payments ranging from $3.5 million to $55.5 million annually during the life of the agreement if certain performance-based milestones are achieved.
OraSure received Food and Drug Administration approval for its OraQuick HCV test in 2010. The company also markets rapid tests for detecting the HIV virus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HCV is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the United States, with approximately 5 million people infected. An estimated one in 30 Baby Boomers (adults born between 1945 and 1965) have chronic hepatitis C, and up to 75 percent of the people infected with HCV are unaware of their infection.
Douglas A. Michels, president and CEO of OraSure Technologies, said the collaboration with AbbVie will allow the company to educate more health-care professionals and the patients they treat about hepatitis C.
