uniQure announces sale of royalty interest in Hemgenix for up to $400m
Betsy Goodfellow | May 16, 2023 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Haematology, Hemgenix, haemophilia, royalties, uniQure
uniQure has announced that it has entered a definitive agreement to sell a portion of the royalty rights due to uniQure from CSL Behring for net sales of Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec-drbl).
The royalty rights are planned to be sold to HealthCare Royalty (HCRx) and Sagard Healthcare for a price of up to $400m in cash.
Under the terms of this agreement, uniQure will receive an upfront payment of $375m in exchange for the lowest royalty tier on CSL Behring’s worldwide sales of Hemgenix up to 1.85 times the purchase price until 30 June 2032 or if this cap is not met by that date, then 2.25 times the purchase price until 31 December 2038.
Matt Kapusta, CEO of uniQure, commented: “This attractive financing provides uniQure with immediate, non-equity-dilutive capital to continue to invest in our AAV gene therapy pipeline and platform, and to advance potentially breakthrough gene therapies for patients, including AMT-130 in Huntington’s disease, AMT-260 for refractory temporal lobe epilepsy, AMT-162 for SOD-1 ALS and other product candidates. The partial monetisation of this royalty stream validates the significant potential of HEMGENIX global sales while substantially reducing commercialisation risk for uniQure. We are pleased to reach this agreement with HealthCare Royalty and Sagard Healthcare, each of whom is a recognised leader in funding innovation across life sciences, and look forward to furthering our opportunities for growth and value creation.”
Clarke B Futch, chairman and CEO of HCRx, stated: “We believe that real innovation is the lifeblood of the biotechnology industry, and it’s a rare opportunity to be part of a true first, with Hemgenix being the first gene therapy approved for adults with haemophilia B. We are pleased to be able to provide uniQure with the opportunity to immediately monetise their royalty asset to allow them to continue to develop their innovative gene therapy programmes.”
David MacNaughtan, partner and head of Sagard Healthcare, added: “Sagard is excited to complete this transaction and support uniQure with its mission to develop one-time, transformative gene therapies for patients in need. Sagard’s investment reflects our confidence in the commercial prospects of Hemgenix which is marketed by CSL Behring.”
Betsy Goodfellow
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