Pozen Gets $10M Milestone Payment For Vimovo

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Drug developer Pozen Inc. said Monday it received a $10 million payment from partner AstraZeneca as the Food and Drug Administration reviews the application for Vimovo, which is aimed at preventing gastric ulcers in patients with chronic pain.

The company asked the FDA to review the application in June and expected the milestone payment when the agency agreed to conduct the review. The drug is a combination of the painkiller naproxen and esomeprazole magnesium, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in heartburn medicine Nexium.

Vimovo is aimed at treating signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in patients who are at risk of developing ulcers associated with the use of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs.

London-based AstraZeneca and Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Pozen have been developing the drug since 2006.

Shares of Pozen rose 47 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $6.94 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $4.50 and $12.34 over the last 52 weeks.