Swedish drugmaker Camurus AB is in talks to amass US-based Braeburn Pharmaceuticals Inc., a transfer that would strengthen its foothold on the earth’s largest marketplace for opioid dependancy therapies, in keeping with an individual accustomed to the matter.
The potential deal, which follows a US–European Union settlement to cap pharmaceutical tariffs at 15%, would mark the primary main cross-border pharma transaction below the brand new framework.
Camurus, recognized for creating long-acting therapies for power circumstances together with dependancy, has a longstanding partnership with privately held Braeburn. In 2014, the Swedish firm signed an unique licensing deal granting the US agency rights to market Camurus’ long-acting buprenorphine injection — bought as Brixadi within the US and Buvidal internationally. Camurus obtained $20 million upfront and was eligible for as much as $151 million in milestone funds tied to improvement and gross sales.
That guess has paid off because the US grapples with an escalating opioid epidemic. The Food and Drug Administration accredited Brixadi in 2023, and Braeburn launched it that September. Available in weekly and month-to-month doses which can be extra handy than each day drugs, the drug captured about 25% of the US long-acting buprenorphine market by the top of 2024. It generated 212 million Swedish kronor ($19 million) in royalties for Camurus final 12 months.
An acquisition would give Camurus direct management of Brixadi’s US gross sales, the place the opioid disaster claims round 80,000 lives yearly, most linked to fentanyl overdoses.
Braeburn’s vast distribution community throughout Medicaid, Medicare, federal packages and personal insurers has fueled speedy adoption. Camurus executives estimate Brixadi’s untapped US market potential at greater than $1 billion, citing sturdy endorsements from docs, sufferers and payers. The drug’s first-year efficiency outpaced earlier launches within the class, positioning it as a number one rival to each day therapies.
The US opioid therapy market is projected to broaden as federal initiatives enhance entry to drugs that curb cravings and withdrawal, in keeping with Hagman Global Strategies, a London-based assume tank.
The talks come in opposition to the backdrop of a landmark US–EU commerce pact, which set a 15% tariff ceiling on most imports, together with prescription drugs — a lifeline for Europe’s export-heavy drug sector. Last 12 months, the EU exported practically €120 billion ($130 billion) value of medicines to the US, accounting for 38.2% of its non-EU pharma exports and making prescription drugs the bloc’s largest export class to America.
While the scale and phrases of the potential deal stay undisclosed, it highlights how tariff reduction is already spurring transactions in a sector lengthy cautious of commerce boundaries.
European pharmaceutical firms, which exported $500 billion globally final 12 months, see the US as a progress engine—offered cross-border prices don’t spiral, in keeping with Hagman Global Strategies.
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