BioCentury
ARTICLE | Top Story

PDL buys Depomed's diabetes royalty stream

October 21, 2013 11:39 PM UTC

Depomed Inc. (NASDAQ:DEPO) sold the royalty streams from its Type II diabetes products to PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI) for $240.5 million in cash. The deal covers royalties and milestones from Santarus Inc. (NASDAQ:SNTS) for Glumetza extended-release metformin tablets and Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) for Janumet XR sitagliptin/metformin extended-release tablets. Both use Depomed's Acuform drug delivery technology. The deal also includes milestones and royalties for the use of Acuform in fixed-dose combinations under development by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (Ingelheim, Germany) and the Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Once PDL has received $481 million under the deal, PDL and Depomed will split milestones and royalties evenly.

Depomed said it plans to use the cash to acquire products in pain and neurology. The company markets Gralise gabapentin for post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) as well as pain drug Zipsor diclofenac. ...