By Staff Report Monday, April 2nd, 2012

Amgen has entered a development deal with London-based AstraZeneca to jointly commercialize five anti-inflammation drugs.

Under the terms of the agreement announced April 2, AstraZeneca will pay a one-time $50 million payment to Amgen and will be responsible for helping the Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant commercialize its inflammation drug pipeline.

The firms said in a joint statement that the deal “will provide Amgen with additional resources to optimally progress its portfolio” and will help the company “benefit from the strong respiratory, inflammation and asthma development expertise of MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s biologics arm.”

The two firms will share costs and profits, they said, with AstraZeneca paying about 65 percent of the costs from 2012 to 2014, and the expenses being split equally after that.

AstraZeneca will lead the development and commercial strategy of AMG 139 and AMG 181, both treatments for Crohn’s disease, and AMG 157, an asthma treatment. Amgen will lead the development and commercial strategy of AMG 557, which is being investigated for autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, and for brodalumab, a treatment for people with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and asthma.

Outgoing Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer said the deal “has the potential to bring more therapies to patients sooner, across more geographic areas.”

Earlier this year, Amgen agreed to acquire drugmaker Micromet for $1.2 billion.

Amgen shares were unchanged in after-hours trading following the AstraZeneca deal announcement.