June 27 Financial Quick Takes: Esperion gets $125M from Oberland in funding deal for cholesterol candidates; plus Woodford, PanTheryx and Castle

Esperion, Oberland strike funding deal ahead of bempedoic acid launch
Esperion Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) forged a funding agreement with Oberland Capital tied to revenues from the sale of products containing the biotech's cholesterol-lowering candidate bempedoic acid, two of which are under FDA review. Esperion will receive $125 million up front and is eligible for an additional $25 million upon bempedoic acid's approval and $50 million at the biotech's discretion. Oberland will receive a single-digit royalty that steps down if product sales reach certain thresholds.

Woodford mum on divestiture report
Woodford Investment Management Ltd. declined to comment on reports that the firm is looking to sell its shares in two private companies, including sequencing play Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. Sky News and Reuters reported that Woodford had hired a division of investment bank PJT Partners to sell its stakes in Atom Bank and Oxford Nanopore in an effort to raise additional cash. As of May 31, Oxford Nanopore accounted for 3% of the Woodford Equity Income Fund's holdings, which at the time totaled £3.7 billion ($4.7 billion)...