2 minute read | August.28.2023
Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) and Ferring Pharmaceuticals, based in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, have entered into a $500 million synthetic royalty agreement for specified sales of Ferring’s new gene therapy for bladder cancer.
Orrick represented Ferring.
The agreement calls for Royalty Pharma to pay Ferring $300 million upfront as well as a potential $200 million milestone payment in exchange for royalties on the sales of Ferring’s intravesical gene therapy Adstiladrin® (nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg). The milestone payment is contingent on certain manufacturing goals that are expected to be achieved in 2025 for the FDA-approved intravesical gene therapy that Ferring will make available next month through an early experience program. The therapy will treat adult patients with high-risk, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without papillary tumors.
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group committed to helping people around the world build families and live better lives. Headquartered in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, Ferring is a leader in reproductive medicine and women’s health, and in specialty areas within gastroenterology and urology.
“This major investment by Royalty Pharma, the largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation, is yet another demonstration of the valueand confidence in our gene therapy Adstiladrin to address significant unmet medical needs for patients. It also highlights its significant potential as a key growth driver for Ferring, and our commitment to Uro-Oncology,” said Jean-Frédéric Paulsen, Executive Chairman of Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
The transaction provides Ferring with significant non-dilutive capital to support the manufacturing capacity expansion, commercialization and further clinical development of Adstiladrin for bladder cancer patients in the United States.
“After several decades of little progress in the field, Adstiladrin brings a major innovation to patients with high-risk NMIBC who no longer respond to current first-line treatment and have few other good options,” said Bipin Dalmia, Global Head, Uro-Oncology Franchise of Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
“Our ambition is for Adstiladrin to become the new standard of care and the backbone therapy for these patients and to drive research in other urothelial cancers. This agreement positions us well for continued significant and sustained investment to further advance Adstiladrin as the foundation of our leadership drive in Uro-Oncology.”
Orrick’s David Schulman led the team advising Ferring. The team also included Kayla Z. X. Southworth, Russell Hoffman and Ashleigh Williams.
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