Pluristem (PSTI) License Agreement for Pulmonary Hypertension
PSTI entered into an exclusive license agreement with United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) for the use of PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cells to develop and commercialize a cell-based product for the treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH).
- Under the terms of the agreement, UTHR will receive exclusive worldwide licensing rights for the development and commercialization of the future product for treating PH patients. PSTI will retain all manufacturing rights; participate in the pre-clinical and clinical trial activities and provide the commercial grade product.
The Bottom Line: An indication agreement for PLX cells. UTHR Corporation develops pharmaceuticals to treat vascular diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and peripheral vascular disease. Under the terms of the agreement, UTHR will make an upfront payment of $7M. PSTI is eligible to receive regulatory milestone payments and other payments accumulating together with the upfront payment to a total of approximately $55M and reimbursement of costs of its development and clinical activities. UTHR will bear all the costs of conducting the clinical trials for this indication. Following commercialization, UTHR shall purchase commercial supplies at a specified margin over cost. In addition, UTHR will pay specified royalties as a percentage from its gross profits generated. UTHR’s lead products are stable synthetic forms of prostacyclin and are delivered orally or subcutaneously. UTHR’s products are currently in P3 clinical trials with agreements and relationships with Eli Lilly; Toray Industries; NEBU-TEC; Mondobiotech; ImmuneWorks; GlaxoSmithKline PLC; Pfizer; and Supernus Pharmaceuticals. Pulmonary hypertension is a $3B market. UTHR had annual sales of $600M in the US. Closing is expected in 8/11.
- In pre-market trading PSTI is up $0.44 (14.62%) at $3.41.
