Generic manufacturer Mylan has agreed a $17.5 million deal with Pfizer for the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise a portfolio of respiratory products.

As part of the deal, Mylan will have licensing rights to Pfizer’s generic equivalent to GSK’s Advair and Seretide.

Heather Bresch, Mylan President, says the agreement offers a “significant opportunity for our generics business”.

The agreement will also see Mylan retaining staff at Pfizer’s respiratory inhalation development team at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent. Other former Pfizer staff will be located in Cambridge.

Under the terms of the agreement Mylan will have rights to Pfizer’s dry powder inhaler (DPI) technology platform, as well as the opportunity to negotiate on existing compounds during different stages of their development in the Pharma giant’s pipeline.

Mylan will have to pay the costs for any remaining development and commercialisation for the transferred products. Additional payments will also be made once the deal is completed, depending on the regulatory and commercial success of the portfolio.

Advair Diskus and Seretide Diskus are inhaled fixed-dose combinations of Fluticasone Propionate and Salmeterol which are delivered via a DPI and used to treat asthma and COPD.

On completion of the deal, Mylan with gain the exclusive commercialisation rights for Seretide in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in the EU and European Free Trade Association countries. The two companies will have the co-promotion rights to the product in the rest of the world.

About 650 jobs will be saved at Pfizer’s R&D plant in Sandwich, Kent (pictured) – 300 more than previously announced in June.

So far, 800 staff members have left their positions at the Discovery Park, with a further 700 expected to leave by the end of 2012, with 250 employees relocating to other UK sites, said the company.

The pharmaceutical company announced in February that the research and development facility in east Kent will close, which employed 2,400 people.

The site was then obtained by the Government in August and named part of its Enterprise Zone, to encourage the creation of more jobs and to cut taxes.

Despite Kent County Council commenting that it would take ten years for the site to recover the gap left by the pharma giant, interest has been shown in the space, including from former Pfizer employees who established a new company at the plant in September.

Pfizer said it would continue its phased exit by 2012 and would review the retained operation within a few years as part of its business planning.

Pfizer has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Icagen in deal worth $56 million.

The pharma giant already owns approximately 11% of the global leader in pain research and will now acquire the remaining 8.3 million shares.

Ruth McKernan, Senior Vice President, Pfizer's Pain & Sensory Disorders and Regenerative Medicine unit, says the deal will strengthen “our innovative core”.

The two entered into a worldwide collaboration to research and develop new potential treatments for pain and related disorders in 2007.

Kay Wagoner, CEO, Icagen says the company is delighted to have signed an agreement with Pfizer. “During the nearly four years since the initiation of our collaboration, each side has developed a mutual appreciation of the expertise and capabilities of the other,” she said.

“By joining forces in a more integrated manner, we believe that our joint efforts towards the identification and development of novel pharmaceuticals targeting specific ion channels will be significantly enhanced.”

The companies hope to finalise the deal before the end of the year.