Pasadena-based Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that New York-based life science fund Royalty Pharma has acquired a royalty interest in a drug to treat cardiovascular disease that was originally developed by Arrowhead but later sold to Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc.
Royalty Pharma paid $250 million in cash upfront to acquire the royalty stake in the drug, olpasiran, that Arrowhead held. In addition, Royalty Pharma has agreed to make additional payments of up to $160 million, contingent upon the drug achieving specified clinical, regulatory and sales milestones.
Olpasiran was originally developed by Arrowhead using its proprietary targeted RNAi molecule platform that silences genes that activate certain diseases. It is designed to lower levels of a lipoprotein that has emerged as a genetically determined independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Arrowhead took the drug through early clinical trials, but in 2016 decided to license the drug out to pharma giant Amgen, which had the financial resources to continue the clinical trials process.
The exact amount Amgen paid Arrowhead in 2016 for the license to further develop olpasiran was not disclosed at the time. That’s because it was one of two drugs involved in the licensing deal and the announcement gave the total amount of upfront payments for both drugs – $56 million – and said Arrowhead could receive up to $617 million in future milestone and royalty payments. Milestone payments are triggered when the drug clears certain clinical, regulatory and sales hurdles.
The drug is now entering a Phase 3 cardiovascular outcomes study to determine whether it can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
This deal with Royalty Pharma, announced on Nov. 9, gives Arrowhead a much-needed cash injection. During the quarter ending June 30, Arrowhead posted a $73 million loss.
