Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) today announced charitable
contributions totaling $7,660,000 to support important COVID-19
research at The Rockefeller University, Mount Sinai Health System
and Columbia University. This amount includes donations from
Royalty Pharma plc of $4,880,000 and personal contributions from
Pablo and Almudena Legorreta of $2,880,000. Neither Royalty Pharma
plc nor Pablo and Almudena Legorreta will receive any economic
benefit in exchange for any aspect of these donations.
“Royalty Pharma is committed to supporting
academic research centers and teaching hospitals that are on the
frontlines of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Pablo
Legorreta, founder & CEO of Royalty Pharma. “These gifts are
intended to advance innovative COVID-19 healthcare solutions, from
novel antibodies and assays to much needed studies about
seroprevalence, vaccine response, including in predominantly
Latino/Hispanic and Black communities, and the mental health burden
of healthcare professionals dealing with the pandemic.”
Gift to The Rockefeller
University
Gifts totaling $5,760,000 to The Rockefeller
University, of which half will be donated by Royalty Pharma and the
other half by Pablo and Almudena Legorreta personally, will support
the late-stage research and clinical development of a new
antibody-based therapy designed to fight SARS-CoV-2. The focus will
be a pair of broadly neutralizing antibodies that Dr. Nussenzweig,
M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues isolated from the blood of people
who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Using molecular
technologies they developed, they were able to identify and clone
the genes that produce the most powerful anti-SARS-CoV-2
antibodies. The investigational antibody combination is designed to
bind to two distinct sections of the spike protein, blocking the
virus’ ability to infect human cells. A Phase I trial of the new
investigational antibody therapy is expected to begin at
Rockefeller’s Hospital imminently.
Rockefeller University President Richard P.
Lifton noted, “Antibody treatments will be a crucial part of our
medical armamentarium against COVID-19, even with the availability
of new vaccines. Antibodies can provide acute or chronic protection
for individuals whose immune systems cannot adequately respond to a
vaccine, and also serve as an effective therapeutic for people in
the early stages of infection. “We are tremendously grateful for
this transformative gift at this key moment,” continued Dr. Lifton.
“Pablo and his Royalty Pharma colleagues have been extraordinarily
helpful partners, providing expertise and wise counsel, as well as
critical funding, throughout the SARS-CoV-2 antibody development
process.”
Gift to the Department of Medicine at
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and
Surgeons
A second gift totaling $1,000,000 to the
Department of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of
Physicians and Surgeons will be used to fund the following three
studies:
- ARMOR STUDY:
COVID-19 Seroprevalence and Mental Health Burden Among Healthcare
Workers. (ARMOR = ANTIBODY RESPONSE MONITORING FOR OCCUPATIONAL
RESILIENCE)
- MODIFICATION ARMOR
STUDY: Understanding antibody, innate and cellular immune
responses to COVID vaccines: defining durability of immune
responses in a cohort of health care workers
- ARMOR-VAX-UP:
Uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and persistence of serological
responses in a cohort of predominantly Latino/Hispanic and Black
communities.
“We are deeply grateful for this exceptional
gift which will advance our COVID-19 research. This gift holds the
promise to benefit the lives of millions. On behalf of both
patients and healthcare providers, ours and myriad others
throughout the world, we give our heartfelt thanks,” said Donald W.
Landry, M.D., Ph.D., Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine,
chair, Department of Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians and
Surgeons and Physician-in-Chief, NYP/Columbia.
Gift to Mount Sinai Health System and
the Mount Sinai’s Center for Post-COVID Care
A third gift totaling $1,000,000 to Mount Sinai
Health System will be used to support:
- Mount
Sinai’s Center for Post-COVID Care (CPCC) and Post-COVID
Registry: The CPCC has cared for more than 20,000 patients
with COVID-19, providing an invaluable look at the many ways this
virus attacks and affects the body. With an estimated 30-35% of
COVID-19 survivors suffering from a variety of chronic conditions,
the CPCC has proven essential in helping patients address the
unique symptoms caused by this virus.“The Mount Sinai Center for
Post-COVID Care and COVID-19 Registry was established to treat and
study the long-term consequences of COVID-19 infection,” said Juan
Wisnivesky, MD, Professor of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine
and Co-Director of the CPCC. “Patients will be followed with yearly
exams to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the cardiopulmonary
system, renal function, immune function, neurological system,
mental health and other organs. We are also creating a
biorepository to perform analyses that can further unveil the
biological impact of COVID-19 infection.”
- The
research of Dr. Florian Krammer into a novel, quantitative assay to
pinpoint antibodies for SARS-CoV-2: Dr. Krammer and his
team were the first in the nation to screen for viral antibodies by
creating a novel, quantitative assay to pinpoint antibody levels
(titers) for SARS-CoV-2 which are vital for vaccine development as
well as to evaluate individual susceptibility to disease and
population immunity.“We are conducting studies that follow
individuals who already have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 through
infection or vaccination and monitor these antibodies over time,”
said Florian Krammer, PhD, “Based on this data and potential
breakthrough infections, we are determining the level of antibodies
that is needed to provide protection.”
“Mount Sinai has boldly faced the unprecedented
challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic with dynamic ideas and limitless
clinical and scientific efforts that have moved as quickly as the
virus has spread in our communities. This generous gift makes it
possible to continue the important work ahead,” said Dennis S.
Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean at the Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs at Mount
Sinai Health System.
Other COVID-19 Related
Donations
The above charitable donations build on the
initial contributions that Royalty Pharma made to the Mount Sinai
Health System, Good Samaritan Hospital, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and SUNY Downstate
Health Sciences University earlier in the pandemic where the
company donated over $1,000,000 worth of ventilators and personal
protective equipment (PPE) when they were in short supply.
About Royalty Pharma plc
Founded in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the largest
buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of
innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, collaborating
with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and
not-for-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies
to leading global pharmaceutical companies. Royalty Pharma has
assembled a portfolio of royalties which entitles it to payments
based directly on the top-line sales of many of the industry’s
leading therapies. Royalty Pharma funds innovation in the
biopharmaceutical industry both directly and indirectly - directly
when it partners with companies to co-fund late-stage clinical
trials and new product launches in exchange for future royalties,
and indirectly when it acquires existing royalties from the
original innovators. Royalty Pharma’s current portfolio includes
royalties on more than 45 commercial products, including AbbVie and
J&J’s Imbruvica, Astellas and Pfizer’s Xtandi, Biogen’s
Tysabri, Gilead’s HIV franchise, Merck’s Januvia, Novartis’
Promacta, and Vertex’s Kalydeco, Symdeko, Orkambi and Trikafta, and
four development-stage product candidates. For more information,
visit www.royaltypharma.com.
Royalty Pharma plc’s Forward-Looking
Statements
The information set forth herein does not
purport to be complete or to contain all of the information you may
desire. Statements contained herein are made as of the date of this
document unless stated otherwise, and neither the delivery of this
document at any time, nor any sale of securities, shall under any
circumstances create an implication that the information contained
herein is correct as of any time after such date or that
information will be updated or revised to reflect information that
subsequently becomes available or changes occurring after the date
hereof. This document contains statements that constitute
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future events or future results, in contrast with statements that
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Forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties
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cause its actual results to differ materially from those it thought
would occur. The forward-looking statements included in this
document are made only as of the date hereof. Royalty Pharma does
not undertake, and specifically declines, any obligation to update
any such statements or to publicly announce the results of any
revisions to any such statements to reflect future events or
developments, except as required by law. Certain information
contained in this document relates to or is based on studies,
publications, surveys and other data obtained from third-party
sources and Royalty Pharma’s own internal estimates and research.
While Royalty Pharma believes these third-party sources to be
reliable as of the date of this document, it has not independently
verified, and makes no representation as to the adequacy, fairness,
accuracy or completeness of, any information obtained from
third-party sources. In addition, all of the market data included
in this document involves a number of assumptions and limitations,
and there can be no guarantee as to the accuracy or reliability of
such assumptions. Finally, while the company believes its own
internal research is reliable, such research has not been verified
by any independent source. For further information, please
reference Royalty Pharma’s reports and documents filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) by visiting EDGAR
on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Royalty Pharma Investor Relations and
Communications
+1 (212) 883-2295
ir@royaltypharma.com
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