AstraZeneca Plc announced on 7 May that it will divest its legacy neuroscience product Seroquel by way of a sale to Luye Pharma Group Ltd, a Chinese investment holding company. The sale is part of AstraZeneca’s strategy of lightening up its portfolio to focus on three core therapy areas.
The core areas are oncology; treatments for cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases; and treatments for respiratory diseases. Seroquel was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2007; it started losing its patent protection in 2012.