Royalty Pharma has acquired a partial royalty interest on Prevymis™[1] (letermovir) from AiCuris for a one-time-payment of $220 million.
Prevymis is licensed by MSD, the tradename of Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA.
The product was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017 and by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) in 2018 for prophylaxis (prevention) of CMV infection and disease in adult CMV-seropositive recipients [R+] of an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) who are at high risk for CMV reactivation. CMV infection is a complication in these patients, and early CMV reactivation after transplant is associated with increased mortality.
Dr. Holger Zimmermann, CEO of AiCuris Anti-infective Cures GmbH, said: “The agreement with Royalty Pharma reflects the major medical need for innovative anti-infective drugs and their commercial potential, and enables us to further advance our proprietary pipeline of novel treatments against infectious diseases without losing the possibility to participate on future revenues from Prevymis.”
“We are excited to add a royalty interest in this important therapy to our portfolio,” said Pablo Legorreta, Founder and CEO of Royalty Pharma.