NEW YORK and COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 3, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Royalty Pharma plc RPRX and Ascendis Pharma A/S ASD (neurological disease) announced today that Royalty Pharma and Ascendis Pharma Bone Diseases A/S, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ascendis Pharma A/S, have entered into a synthetic royalty financing agreement with a cap of $150 million based on net sales of Yorvipath in the U.S.
“We are pleased to once again partner with Royalty Pharma, one of the leading sources of innovation funding in the biopharmaceutical industry, on the launch of Yorvipath in the United States, the first and only FDA-approved treatment for hypoparathyroidism in adults,” said Jan Mikkelsen, President and CEO of Ascendis Pharma. “This transaction reflects the significant value of Yorvipath and our commitment to lowering our cost of capital while maintaining the flexibility to support our global commercial capabilities.”
“We are delighted to expand our partnership with Ascendis and provide financing to support the launch of Yorvipath, a major advancement in treating the underlying cause of hypoparathyroidism in adults,” said Pablo Legorreta, Founder and CEO of Royalty Pharma. “This is our second transaction with Ascendis, highlighting our partner-centric approach and ability to structure creative, mutually beneficial financing solutions, which is a unique aspect of our business model.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Ascendis will receive an upfront payment of $150 million in exchange for a 3% royalty on net sales of Yorvipath in the United States. Royalty payments to Royalty Pharma will cease upon reaching a multiple of 2.0x, or 1.65x if Royalty Pharma receives royalties in that amount by December 31, 2029.
Advisors
Evercore acted as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins and Mazanti-Andersen acted as legal advisors to Ascendis on the transaction. Goodwin Procter and Fenwick & West acted as legal advisors to Royalty Pharma.
About Royalty Pharma plc
Founded in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the largest purchaser of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, partnering with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals, and non-profit organizations, through to small- and mid-cap biotechs all the way to major global pharmaceutical companies. Royalty Pharma has assembled a royalty portfolio that entitles it to payments based directly on total sales of many of the industry’s leading therapies. Royalty Pharma funds innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry both directly and indirectly: directly when it partners with companies to co-fund late-stage clinical trials and new product launches in exchange for future royalties, and indirectly when it acquires existing royalties from the original innovators. Royalty Pharma’s current portfolio includes royalties on more than 35 commercial products, including Vertex’s Trikafta, GSK’s Trelegy, Roche’s Evrysdi, Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya, Biogen’s Tysabri and Spinraza, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica, Astellas and Pfizer’s Xtandi, Novartis’ Promacta, Pfizer’s Nurtec ODT and Gilead’s Trodelvy, and 16 product candidates in development.
About Ascendis Pharma A/S
Ascendis Pharma is applying its innovative TransCon technology platform to build a leading, fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on making a meaningful difference in the lives of patients. Guided by its core values of Patients, Science and Passion, Ascendis is using its TransCon technologies to create novel and potentially best-in-class therapies. Ascendis is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with additional facilities in Europe and the United States. Visit ascendispharma.com To find out more.
Royalty Pharma Forward-Looking Statements
The information contained herein does not purport to be complete or contain all the information that you may desire. The statements contained herein are made as of the date hereof unless otherwise indicated, and neither the delivery of this document at any time, nor any sale of securities, shall under any circumstances create an implication that the information contained herein is correct at any time after such date or that the information will be updated or revised to reflect information that subsequently becomes available or changes that occur after the date hereof.
This document contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that express the Company's opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or projections concerning future events or future results, as contrasted with statements that reflect historical facts. Examples include analysis of Royalty Pharma's strategies, financing plans, growth opportunities and market growth. In some cases, you can identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “plan,” “seek,” “project,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “could,” or “should,” the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current beliefs and assumptions and information currently available to the Company. However, these forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of Royalty Pharma's performance and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties and other changing circumstances as well as other factors. Such risks and uncertainties may cause the statements to be inaccurate and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Many of these risks are beyond the Company's control and could cause its actual results to differ materially from those it thought would occur. The forward-looking statements included herein are made only as of the date hereof. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update such statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to such statements to reflect future events or developments, except as required by law.
Certain information contained herein relates to or is based on studies, publications, surveys and other data obtained from third party sources and the Company's own internal estimates and research. While the Company believes these third party sources to be reliable as of the date of this document, it has not independently verified, and makes no representation as to, the adequacy, fairness, accuracy or completeness of any information obtained from third party sources. Furthermore, all market data included herein involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and the accuracy or reliability of such assumptions cannot be guaranteed. Finally, while the Company believes its own internal research to be reliable, such research has not been verified by any independent source.
For more information, please see Royalty Pharma's reports and documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) by visiting EDGAR on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Ascendis Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this press release regarding the future operations, plans and objectives of Ascendis' management are forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to (i) Ascendis' expectations regarding its use of proceeds, (ii) Ascendis' commitment to reducing its cost of capital while maintaining the flexibility to support its global commercial capabilities, (iii) Ascendis' ability to apply its TransCon technology platform to build a leading, fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company, and (iv) Ascendis' use of its TransCon technologies to create new and potentially best-in-class therapies. Ascendis may not achieve the plans, carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements. A number of important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements Ascendis makes, including the following: dependence on third-party manufacturers, distributors and service providers for Ascendis' products and product candidates; unanticipated safety or efficacy results in Ascendis' development programs or products on the market; unanticipated expenses related to the commercialization of any approved Ascendis product; unanticipated expenses related to Ascendis' development programs; unanticipated selling, general and administrative expenses, other research and development expenses and Ascendis' business generally; delays in the development of its manufacturing-related programs, regulatory requirements, speed of patient recruitment or other unanticipated delays; Ascendis' ability to obtain additional funding, if necessary, to support its business activities; the impact of international economic, political, legal, compliance, social and trade factors. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Ascendis’ business generally, see Ascendis’ Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 7, 2024 and other future reports of Ascendis filed or submitted to the SEC. Forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future license, collaboration, acquisition, merger, disposition, joint venture or investment that Ascendis may enter into or make. Ascendis undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.
Ascendis, Ascendis Pharma, the Ascendis Pharma logo, the Company logo, TransCon and YORVIPATH® are trademarks of the Ascendis Pharma Group. © September 2024 Ascendis Pharma A/S.
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