Ligand pays $100M to add neuroblastoma drug royalties to its revenue stream

08 Jul 2024
firstwordpharma.com
Ligand Pharmaceuticals snapped up Apeiron Biologics for $100 million on Monday, gaining royalty rights to cancer drug Qarziba (dinutuximab beta). The royalty asset aggregator expects the purchase to pad its yearly profits and is now targeting revenues of $140 million to $157 million for 2024, up from its previous guidance of $130 million to $142 million.
Under the deal, which is expected to close this month, Apeiron is eligible to receive an additional payment of up to $28 million if royalties for Qarziba exceed an undisclosed threshold in the next decade.
Apeiron out-licensed exclusive global rights for Qarziba to EUSA Pharma in 2016, shortly after which the European Medicines Agency approved the anti-GD2 antibody for high-risk neuroblastoma. Then in 2022, Recordati acquired EUSA for €750 million ($812 million), gaining commercial control of the drug.
Ligand will also invest via a stock purchase up to $4 million in invIOs, which Apeiron spun out in 2022 to house its preclinical and clinical programmes. The firm has three early-stage immuno-oncology assets, to which Apeiron is entitled to royalties and milestones, further expanding Ligand’s portfolio.
According to Ligand, Qarziba is the sixth commercial asset it has gained since the beginning of 2023, including Novan and its berdazimer gel, which won FDA approval in January under the name Zelsuvmi.
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