The Life Sciences team advised Royalty Pharma (Nasdaq: RPRX) in its acquisition of an interest in Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: IONS) royalty in Biogen’s SPINRAZA® (nusinersen) and Novartis’ pelacarsen for up to $1.125 billion, including an upfront payment of $500 million and up to $625 million in additional pelacarsen milestone payments.
Under the terms of the monetization transaction, Royalty Pharma will receive 25% of Ionis’ SPINRAZA royalty payments through 2027, increasing to 45% of royalty payments in 2028, on up to $1.5 billion in annual sales. Royalty Pharma’s royalty interest in SPINRAZA will revert to Ionis after total SPINRAZA royalty payments reach either $475 million or $550 million, depending on the timing and occurrence of certain events; and 25% of Ionis’ pelacarsen royalty payments.
SPINRAZA is the global foundation of care for the treatment of people living with spinal muscular atrophy. Biogen licensed SPINRAZA from Ionis in 2016. Pelacarsen is a potentially first-in-class treatment specifically targeting elevated lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), an independent, inherited, and causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Novartis licensed pelacarsen from Ionis in 2019.
Founded in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, collaborating with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and non-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies to leading global pharmaceutical companies.
The Goodwin team was led by Jacqueline Mercier, Bob Crawford, Catherine Magazu, Sarah Stoiber, Alexandra Haas, Elliot Horlick, Pat O’Brien, and Daniela Sanchez, with invaluable assistance from Kris Ring, Alexandra Valenti, Rob Carroll, Colleen Doyle.
For additional details on the acquisition, please read the press release.