Royalty Pharma to pay $1 bln for Roche's SMA drug royalties (updated)

Royalty Pharma

19/10/2023 13:32

(Adds details throughout)
       Oct 19 (Reuters) - Royalty Pharma  RPRX.O  said on
Thursday it has purchased additional royalties on Roche  ROG.S 
and PTC Therapeutics'  PTCT.O  oral spinal muscular atrophy
(SMA) drug for an upfront payment of $1 billion.
    Risdiplam, branded as Evrysdi, was approved by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration in 2020 for the treatment of the disease
in adults and children two months and above.
    Spinal muscular atrophy, a leading genetic cause of infant
deaths, prevents the body from producing a protein necessary for
neuromuscular development.
    The deal also includes options for PTC to sell up to all of
its retained royalties on Evrysdi for up to $500 million at a
later date, Royalty Pharma said.
    Royalty Pharma expects to fund the transaction with a
combination of existing cash and about $350 million from its
revolving credit facility.

 (Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((Mariam.ESunny@thomsonreuters.com;))