Valeant Pharmaceuticals has acquired the European Union (EU) rights of Tasmar (tolcapone) from Roche for $11.4 million, plus royalties. Valeant expects to complete the transfer of marketing authorization for Tasmar by the end of October 2004.

According to a release, the acquisition provides Valeant with global rights to Tasmar, significantly expanding on the company's purchase of rights in the US and other markets earlier this year. Valeant re-launched Tasmar in the US in July 2004 and expects to launch Tasmar in the EU and other markets in late 2004.

"We are very pleased to acquire the global rights to Tasmar, an important medicine for many Parkinson's disease patients," Valeant's chief operating officer, Timothy C Tyson said adding, "Tasmar is an integral part of the building of our neurology platform, which has grown significantly this year. We expect continued success worldwide as we increase promotional efforts on Tasmar as one of our global brands."

Tasmar is an adjunctive therapeutic agent used in combination with levodopa and DDCI for patients with severe Parkinson's disease who are not responding satisfactorily or are not appropriate candidates for other adjunctive therapies. Tasmar is classified as a COMT inhibitor, the release added.