Rumour mill has Camurus buying partner Braeburn

Swedish biotech Camurus is reportedly in talks to acquire its US partner Braeburn Pharma in a deal that would give it full control of their product for treating opioid use disorder (OUD).

Various media outlets have said that Lund-based Camurus is interested in getting back rights to Brixadi (buprenorphine) in the large US market, more than a decade after it licensed the product there to Braeburn.

Brixadi is an extended-release subcutaneous injection – suitable for weekly and monthly use – that was approved by the FDA in 2023 for the treatment of moderate to severe OUD in patients who are already being treated with an oral (transmucosal) buprenorphine-containing product.

Since then, the product has made headway in the US – a big market for OUD therapies, given that an epidemic of opioid misuse is still claiming tens of thousands of lives every year – and placed pressure on rival drugs.

That includes Sublocade from Indivior, which was unable to meet its target of reaching $1 billion in annualised sales for the drug last year as Brixadi gathered momentum.

Camurus – which sells the drug as Buvidal in other markets – reported that Brixadi was capturing 25% of the long-acting buprenorphine segment by the end of 2024 and generated ex-US sales of SEK 954 million ($103 million) in the first six months of this year, a rise of 28%.

While privately-held Braeburn does not publish its financial results to give a view of US sales, Camurus also said its royalty rate on the drug had doubled to around $17.5 million in the first half. Taking control of Braeburn would allow Camurus to tap into the full sales potential of the product, which some analysts have suggested could break the $1 billion-a-year threshold.

Indivior said in July that Sublocade grew 9% to $209 million, after seeing a sales decline in the first quarter, and the company has raised its full-year guidance for the product to $765 million to $785 million. The company has been reducing staff and cutting costs in order to redirect resources to building the Sublocade business in the US.

Neither Camurus or Braeburn have commented on the takeover rumour, and the speculation has not included an estimate of the financial nature of the transaction, assuming it takes place.