Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corporation has granted the commercialisation rights to Factive (gemifloxacin mesylate) tablets in Europe to Menarini Group, a leading European pharmaceutical company based in Italy.

Menarini, with broad sales and marketing coverage throughout Europe, has the fourth largest pharmaceutical sales force in Europe and is second largest in terms of calls to primary care physicians.

"With this agreement, we have successfully granted Factive commercialisation rights in all of our licensed territories to leading pharmaceutical companies - a key step in building Factive as a global brand," stated Steven M Rauscher, president and CEO of Oscient Pharmaceuticals. "Menarini, with regulatory and marketing expertise that has helped build a portfolio of 57 products, is one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in Europe and is extremely well-positioned to pursue approval and launch Factive into the European market."

In exchange for European rights, Menarini has agreed to make an upfront payment, as well as a series of payments upon achievement of regulatory, reimbursement and sales milestones. In addition, Menarini will pay Oscient for product supply at a transfer price that includes product costs and compensation to Oscient. Menarini will pursue European regulatory approval in coordination with Oscient and will have access to the clinical trial dossier for Factive and the post-marketing data from use in the US market. As part of the regulatory collaboration, Oscient will reimburse Menarini for regulatory expenses up to an agreed limit. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.

Oscient licensed the rights to commercialise Factive in North America and Europe from LG Life Sciences. As recently announced, Oscient has restructured its license agreement with LG Life Sciences to include over 40 countries in Europe, including all of the current members of the European Union. The antibiotic market in Europe is estimated at $5 billion, with France, Germany, Italy and Spain representing the largest markets.

Factive is not currently approved for use in Europe. In 2006, Oscient forged partnerships for the commercialisation of the drug in Mexico and Canada. Pfizer, SA de CV has launched Factive in Mexico and Abbott Canada is planning to launch Factive in Canada early this year.