Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corp. (OSCI) on Tuesday said it had agreed to stop co-promoting Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s (AUXL) Testim testosterone gel, effective Aug 31.

With the termination of the partnership, the companies will share profits from the drug's primary care sales, Oscient said.

Oscient will also receive a $1.8 million payment from Auxilium as additional compensation for marketing efforts.

In a separate statement, Auxilium said the termination of the agreement was part of the company's strategic initiative to control the commercial development of Testim.

Auxilium said it plans to increase its sales force coverage for the drug, a topical gel used to treat hypogonadism, to about 150 territories from 94.

In April, the companies had entered into the agreement under which Oscient promoted Testim to primary care physicians and Auxilium marketed the drug to urologists, endocrinologists and select primary care physicians.

Oscient said the termination will allow it to focus on cardiovascular drug Antara, for which it bought U.S. rights from Reliant Pharmaceuticals.