NEW YORK, June 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) today announced that it has acquired an ex-U.S. royalty interest in Gavreto from Blueprint Medicines (Nasdaq: BPMC) for up to $340 million, consisting of $175 million upfront and up to $165 million in potential sales-based milestones.
Gavreto, marketed by Roche in certain markets outside the United States and Greater China, is a once-daily rearranged during transfection (RET) targeted therapy approved in Europe in November 2021 for the treatment of certain RET-altered non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Additionally, Gavreto has been submitted for marketing approval for thyroid cancers in Europe with a decision expected in the second half of 2022.
RET activating fusions and mutations are key molecular drivers in multiple cancers and can be identified using diagnostic tests, including next-generation sequencing. RET fusions are implicated in approximately 1% to 2% of patients with NSCLC, 10% to 20% of patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and 90% of patients with advanced medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).
“We are pleased to partner with Blueprint and help advance their innovative precision therapy pipeline for the benefit of patients worldwide,” said Pablo Legorreta, Royalty Pharma’s founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Precision therapies continue to transform the treatment paradigm in oncology and acquiring a royalty on Gavreto aligns with our strategy of investing in differentiated therapies that address unmet medical needs. Gavreto has shown consistent outcomes with deep and durable responses across several RET-altered cancers, and we look forward to its clinical development in additional tumor types and earlier-stage patients.”
“We are thrilled to establish this partnership with Royalty Pharma, a leader in funding innovation,” said Kate Haviland, Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines. “Royalty Pharma is known to invest in transformative medicines, and their investment in Gavreto reinforces our confidence in its future. Further, with a strengthened balance sheet, we can accelerate our strategic plans by expanding clinical development across our pipeline of precision medicines and pursuing important business development opportunities.”
Blueprint was entitled to a tiered royalty of high-teens to mid-twenties on Gavreto annual sales outside the United States, excluding China, through a 2020 global collaboration with Roche. Royalty Pharma is purchasing the ex-U.S. royalty payable by Roche through its full term, which is estimated to be through 2036 to 2040.
Advisors
Gibson Dunn, Maiwald and Kawaguti acted as legal advisors to Royalty Pharma.
About Royalty Pharma
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-for-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies to leading global pharmaceutical companies. Royalty Pharma has assembled a portfolio of royalties which entitles it to payments based directly on the top-line 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 around 35 commercial products, including AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica, Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya, Astellas’ and Pfizer’s Xtandi, Biogen’s Tysabri, Gilead’s Trodelvy, Novartis’ Promacta, Vertex’s Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko and Trikafta, and 10 development-stage therapies.
