Ligand Earns Milestone Payment on EU Approval of Noxafil
It is a common practice of companies in the pharmaceutical sector to enter into agreements for the development and commercialization of products. Such deals fetch milestone payments and royalties.
Late last week, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LGND) earned a $550,000 milestone payment from partner Merck (MRK) on the EU approval of Noxafil (posaconazole) for infusion. As per the commercial supply agreement, Ligand Pharma will sell Captisol to Merck and the Captisol-enabled Noxafil will be marketed in Europe.
With the EU approval, Merck has been granted centralized marketing authorization with a unified labeling. The unified label will be valid not only in the 28 countries that are members of the European Union but also to the European Economic Area members, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
We note that the oral suspension and tablet formulations of Noxafial are already available in the market. The availability of Noxafil in intravenous form will provide benefit to those patients who cannot take the oral form of Noxafil.
We remind investors that earlier this year, Ligand Pharma had received a milestone payment of $1 million from Merck on the approval of Noxafil (in intravenous form) in the U.S.
Ligand Pharma has been pretty active on the licensing front and has several partnered programs with companies like TG Therapeutics (TGTX). Ligand Pharma has also licensed the rights to five programs to Viking Therapeutics.
Ligand Pharma’s Captisol technology has enabled six FDA approved products including Amgen’s (AMGN) Kyprolis among others. Meanwhile, more than 50 Captisol-enabled candidates are in clinical development.
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