"We are honored to have had the opportunity to work withAstellas in this important strategic transaction. Royalty Pharma's goal is tobe a financial partner to large biopharmaceutical companies seeking to expandtheir product pipelines by acquiring biotech and other life sciences companies,many of which hold significant passive royalty assets," said Pablo Legorreta,Chief Executive Officer of Royalty Pharma, in a press release. "By partneringwith Royalty Pharma, acquirors can reduce the amount of capital spent toacquire strategic, value-creating assets and, in doing so, preserve capital tofund other strategic acquisitions or its internal pipeline. This transactionfits squarely within this strategy. The DPP-IV royalties are very high qualityasset that will be an excellent addition to our diversified portfolio ofleading biopharmaceutical royalties."
Prosidion acquired the portfolio of patents related to theuse of DPP-IV inhibitors for treating Type 2 diabetes in 2004, and severalnon-exclusive licenses to the patents have been gratned to pharmaceuticalcompanies worldwide. Astellas gained Prosidion as part of its acquisition ofOSI Pharmaceuticals last June. Though the company is still reviewing how thiswill affect its financial forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012,Astellas presently expects a minimal impact from the acquisition.
"The sale of Prosidion's DPP-IV patent estate and royaltystream supports our strategic goal of maximizing value for Astellas'shareholders," said Yoshihiko Hatanaka, President and Chief Executive Officerof Astellas, in a press release about the deal. "The sale of this large,passive, non-core financial asset will free up capital for reinvestment instrategic initiatives. We are pleased to have been able to work with RoyaltyPharma in this important transaction."
Prosidion's assets also include two drug candidatescurrently in development for diabetes and obesity as well as research anddevelopment capabilities, assets for which Astellas will continue to considerstrategic alternatives. The company is planning to complete its review ofpotential alternatives for those assets as soon as possible, alternatives whichcould include minority investment, strategic alliance, a merger or sale of someor all of those assets. Astellas will wait to release additional informationabout the review until an agreement is entered into or the process is completedanother way.
Astellas brought on
Citi as financial advisor and
Allen& Overy LLP as legal advisor for this transaction. Royalty Pharma brought
Lazard Frères & Co. LLC and
Greenhill & Co., LLC on as financialadvisors and
Goodwin Procter LLP,
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and
Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto as legal advisors for this transaction.
SOURCE: Royalty Pharma press release
