Press release
Ionis and Royalty Pharma enter into royalty agreement for up to $1.1 billion to further advance Ionis' genetic medicines and commercial readiness
Royalty Pharma to acquire an interest in SPINRAZA® and pelacarsen royalties -- Ionis retains majority of royalties and all milestones from Novartis for
About this update from Royalty Pharma Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"Royalty Pharma to acquire an interest in SPINRAZA® and pelacarsen royalties -- Ionis retains majority of royalties and all milestones from Novartis for pelacarsenRoyalty Pharma to pay Ionis $500 million upfront and up to $625 million in milestones Agreement enables Ionis to achieve commercial readiness for multiple late-stage programs and advance its innovative pipeline of genetic medicinesCARLSBAD, Calif. and NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IONS) and Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) today announced that Royalty Pharma has acquired an interest in Ionis' 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.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nSPINRAZA is the global foundation of care for the treatment of people living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). 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.\n\"This transaction provides us with significant capital to reach our strategic objectives, the first of which is to achieve commercial readiness for our late-stage programs eplontersen, olezarsen and donidalorsen. It also enables us to further advance our deep and innovative pipeline so that we can continue to deliver a steady cadence of new genetic medicines to the market,\" said Brett P. Monia, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Ionis. \"Royalty Pharma's investment underscores their confidence in SPINRAZA's resilience as an important therapy for the treatment of SMA. It also demonstrates their belief in pelacarsen's potential to be a first-in-class treatment for Lp(a)-driven cardiovascular disease, representing a multibillion-dollar commercial opportunity. Furthermore, because Ionis retains a majority interest in SPINRAZA and pelacarsen royalties, we maintain our ability to benefit significantly from the potential commercial upside of both products.\"\n\"We are thrilled to partner with Ionis, an innovator in genetic medicine. This investment is consistent with our strategy of acquiring royalties on innovative therapi...