Santarus Climbs on Promo Deal

Specialty pharmaceutical company Santarus(SNTS Quote) gained 10% Friday, following news of a co-promotion agreement with a privately held pharmaceutical company and an analyst upgrade.

The San Diego, Calif., company said Thursday after market close that it made an agreement with Victory Pharma regarding Victory's anti-inflammatory drug Naprelan. Santarus said the once-daily tablets are indicated for the treatment of a number of conditions, including arthritis and the relief of mild to moderate pain.

The agreement dictates that Santarus will promote the tablets to targeted primary care physicians and will be paid a co-promotion fee as a percentage of net sales generated from those efforts. The company said it will incur incremental expenses associated with the promotion of Naprelan products.

Friedman Billings upgraded the company to outperform from market perform on Friday morning.

The stock was up 30 cents, or 5.8%, at $5.31 in recent trading Friday afternoon.