Business
Apnimed Announces Strategic Monetization of Shionogi-Apnimed Sleep Science (SASS) Joint Venture Stake for $150M and Royalties, Strengthening Focus on its Wholly-Owned OSA Program, AD109
Apnimed, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing an oral drug product candidate, AD109, that is designed to address a root cause of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), today announced that Shionogi & Co. Ltd (Shionogi) have entered into a definitive agreement for Shionogi to acquire Apnimed's 50% ownership of Shionogi-Apnimed Sleep Science, LLC (SASS). SASS is a joint venture initially established in 2023, and upon the closing of this transaction, SASS will be wholly-owned by Shionogi.
About this update from Shionogi & Co., Ltd.
[{"type":"list","items":[{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Transaction strengthens Apnimed's balance sheet as the Company separately prepares to submit its NDA for AD109 in Obstructive Sleep Apnea, expected in the second quarter of 2026","length":181,"tagName":"p"}]},{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Apnimed retains exclusive rights to AD109","length":46,"tagName":"p"}]}],"tagName":"ul","bulletedList":true,"length":227,"olType":false},{"type":"text","content":"CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Apnimed, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing an oral drug product candidate, AD109, that is designed to address a root cause of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), today announced that Shionogi & Co. Ltd (Shionogi) have entered into a definitive agreement for Shionogi to acquire Apnimed's 50% ownership of Shionogi-Apnimed Sleep Science, LLC (SASS). SASS is a joint venture initially established in 2023, and upon the closing of this transaction, SASS will be wholly-owned by Shionogi.","length":544,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"image","alt":"Apnimed, Inc. Logo (PRNewsfoto/Apnimed, Inc.)","displaySize":"","headline":null,"caption":"Apnimed, Inc. Logo (PRNewsfoto/Apnimed, Inc.)","className":"","disableSlideshowImg":false,"size":{"original":{"width":400,"height":78,"url":"https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/9640f5466021a6de28c0b07d559db463"},"resized":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Q17i06CHv3TNzhmsMSW7Kg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTEzNw--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/9640f5466021a6de28c0b07d559db463","width":400,"height":78}},"href":"https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2495448/Apnimed_Logo.html","hrefExternal":true,"rel":"nofollow"},{"type":"text","content":"Under the terms of the agreement, Apnimed will receive a $100 million upfront cash payment, a $50 million cash payment upon the achievement of a development milestone related to SASS-002 (sulthiame) and tiered royalties on future commercial sales of any products arising from SASS intellectual property. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.","length":371,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":""This transaction represents a strategic monetization of SASS assets to strengthen our balance sheet and enable us to further focus on the advancement and planned commercialization of our lead product candidate AD109 which has an exp...