AEterna Zentaris has sold the royalties on future sales of Cetrotide--a drug in Phase III trials for benign prostatic hyperplasia--to Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners (CHRP). In 2000 AEterna Zentaris signed a deal with Merck Serono for the rights to market, distribute and sell Cetrotide worldwide, with the exception of Japan, in the field of in vitro fertilization. CHRP will pay AEterna $52.5 million up front and could earn an additional $2.5 million based on 2010 sales of the drug.
"We are very pleased with this transaction which is in line with our strategy of generating non-dilutive financing through non-core asset monetization," said Juergen Engel, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Æterna Zentaris. "We now expect to end the year 2008 with approximately $50 million in cash, providing us with the financial resources for the continued development of cetrorelix in benign prostatic hyperplasia."
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