Arbutus Sells Part of its ONPATTRO™ (patisiran) Royalty Interest to OMERS
03 July 2019 - 6:01AM
Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS), an industry-leading
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) therapeutic solutions company, today
announced the sale of part of its royalty interest on future global
net sales of ONPATTRO™ (patisiran), an RNA interference (RNAi)
therapeutic currently being sold by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ALNY) (Alnylam), to OMERS, the defined benefit pension
plan for municipal employees based in the Province of Ontario,
Canada. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as sole structuring
agent on the transaction.
ONPATTRO is the first-ever RNAi therapeutic to
be available for patients and was approved by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of hereditary
transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis with polyneuropathy on
August 13, 2018, and by the European Commission for the treatment
of hATTR amyloidosis in adults with stage 1 or stage 2
polyneuropathy on August 30, 2018. ONPATTRO utilizes Arbutus’s
lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, which was licensed to Alnylam
in November 2012.
“ONPATTRO represents an important advance for
patients with hATTR amyloidosis. This monetization opportunity is
valuable for us as it both extends our runway with non-dilutive
capital and maintains valuable downstream royalties,” stated
Michael McElhaugh, Arbutus’s Chief Business Officer.
Under the terms of the LNP license agreement
with Alnylam for ONPATTRO, Arbutus is entitled to tiered royalty
payments on net sales of Onpattro ranging from 1.00% - 2.33% after
offsets, with the highest tier applicable to annual net sales above
$500M. This royalty interest has been sold to OMERS, effective as
of January 1, 2019, for $20 million in gross proceeds before
advisory fees. OMERS will retain this entitlement until it has
received $30 million in royalties, at which point 100% of the
entitlement will revert to Arbutus. In addition to this royalty
from the Alnylam LNP license agreement, Arbutus is also entitled to
a second, but lower, royalty interest on net sales of ONPATTRO
originating from a settlement agreement and subsequent license
agreement with Acuitas Therapeutics. The royalty from Acuitas has
been maintained by Arbutus and is not part of the royalty sale to
OMERS.
About Arbutus Arbutus Biopharma
Corporation is a publicly-traded (Nasdaq: ABUS)
biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing, and
commercializing a cure for patients suffering from chronic
Hepatitis B infection. Arbutus is developing multiple drug
candidates, each of which have the potential to improve upon the
standard of care and contribute to a curative combination regimen.
For more information, visit www.arbutusbio.com.
About OMERS Founded in 1962,
OMERS is one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans,
with $97 billion in net assets as at December 31, 2018. A
jointly-sponsored pension plan, with 1,000 participating employers,
OMERS invests and administers pensions on behalf of almost half a
million active and retired members. OMERS members include union and
non-union employees of municipalities, school boards, transit
systems, electrical utilities, emergency services and children’s
aid societies across Ontario. Contributions are funded equally by
members and employers. OMERS has employees in Toronto, London, New
York, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Singapore, Sydney and other major
cities across North America and Europe – originating and managing a
diversified portfolio of high-quality investments in public
markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. For more
information, please visit www.omers.com.
Forward-Looking Statements and
InformationThis press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian
securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”).
Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements
about the potential benefits of the monetization transaction; our
potential to earn future royalty payments; and the potential for
our drug candidates to improve upon the standard of care and
contribute to a curative combination regimen.
With respect to the forward-looking statements
contained in this press release, Arbutus has made numerous
assumptions regarding, among other things: the timely receipt of
expected payments; the effectiveness and timeliness of preclinical
and clinical trials, and the usefulness of the data; the timeliness
of regulatory approvals; the continued demand for Arbutus’ assets;
and the stability of economic and market conditions. While Arbutus
considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are
inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive,
market and social uncertainties and contingencies.
Additionally, there are known and unknown risk
factors which could cause Arbutus' actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements contained herein. Known risk factors
include, among others: anticipated pre-clinical studies and
clinical trials may be more costly or take longer to complete than
anticipated, and may never be initiated or completed, or may not
generate results that warrant future development of the tested drug
candidate; Arbutus may not receive the necessary regulatory
approvals for the clinical development of Arbutus' products;
economic and market conditions may worsen; contract parties may
default in their contractual obligations; our partners may not be
successful commercializing the products for which we are entitled
to future payments; and market shifts may require a change in
strategic focus.
A more complete discussion of the risks and
uncertainties facing Arbutus appears in Arbutus' Annual Report on
Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Arbutus'
continuous disclosure filings, which are available
at www.sedar.com and at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking
statements herein are qualified in their entirety by this
cautionary statement, and Arbutus disclaims any obligation to
revise or update any such forward-looking statements or to publicly
announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking
statements contained herein to reflect future results, events or
developments, except as required by law.
Contact Information
Investors
William H Collier President and CEO Phone: 604-419-3200 Email:
ir@arbutusbio.com Pam Murphy Investor Relations Consultant Phone:
604-419-3200 Email: ir@arbutusbio.com
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