Ipsen, Inspiration restructure hemophilia deal
Ipsen Group (Euronext:IPN) and Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) restructured a 2010 deal for two hemophilia products -- Ipsen's OBI-1 and Inspiration's IB1001. Inspiration, which had worldwide commercialization rights for both products, will now grant Ipsen commercialization rights for the products in Europe; Russia; China, Australia and other countries in the Asia Pacific region; and countries in the North Africa region. As part of the restructuring, Ipsen will pay $30 million to Inspiration, which is eligible for an additional $165 million in milestones. Ipsen will also pay Inspiration royalties on sales of IB1001, and each company will be eligible for royalties on sales of OBI-1 in the partners' respective territories (see BioCentury, Feb. 1, 2010).
Additionally, Ipsen, which owns about 43% of Inspiration, will no longer have an option to acquire Inspiration, though Ipsen did agree to make a future equity investment of up to $20 million. Ipsen also will gain the right to appoint two additional directors to Inspiration's board. Ipsen CFO Susheel Surpal is already on the board. Ipsen was off EUR 0.15 to EUR 18.85 on Tuesday. ...