A little more than a month after regulators clamped a clinical hold on two trials of a leading hemophilia treatment, Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals has restructured its close pact with France's Ipsen, garnering a fresh, $50 million buy-in with another $165 million in milestones up for grabs. And Ipsen, which owns a big chunk of Inspiration already, will give up its option to acquire the Cambridge, MA-based biotech as the developer sets course for an independent destination.
In the deal, Ipsen provides a $30 million upfront to Inspiration and a promise of a $20 million investment on the completion of a $30 million external financing round.
In return, Ipsen gains rights to commercialize two hemophilia drugs--IB1001 and OBI-1--in Europe, Russia, China, Australia and certain other countries, and will be responsible for future regulatory filings in those regions. "Inspiration retains commercialization rights in the Americas, Japan, India, the Middle East, South Africa, Taiwan and certain other countries, as well as global development rights for all products in Inspiration's product portfolio. Each company is obligated to pay the other royalties generated by sales of OBI-1 in their respective geographies and Ipsen will pay Inspiration royalties on sales of IB1001."
"This new arrangement confirms Ipsen's ongoing commitment to Inspiration, while also enabling Inspiration to become an independent, fully integrated, commercial biopharmaceutical company serving people living with hemophilia," says Inspiration CEO John Butler.
Back in July the FDA ordered a hold on two late-stage studies of IB1001 after Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals found that patients taking the treatment developed antibodies to a protein in it.
- here's the press release
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