– Zejula's multiple pipeline indications offer
significant upside potential –
– Transaction builds on DRI's history of
investing in innovative oncology therapies –
– Long-term asset with strong intellectual
property protection –
TORONTO, Sept. 12,
2022 /CNW/ - DRI Healthcare Trust (TSX: DHT.UN) (TSX:
DHT.U) ("DRI" or "the Trust") today announced that a wholly-owned
subsidiary of DRI has acquired a royalty interest in Zejula from
AnaptysBio, Inc. for a purchase price of US$35 million. An additional milestone payment of
US$10 million will be paid should
Zejula be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA")
for the treatment of endometrial cancer on or before December 31, 2025.
Zejula is approved by both the FDA and European Medicines Agency
("EMA") as a treatment for both first-line and recurrent ovarian
cancer. Additional indications in development include endometrial
cancer, HER2-negative breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer,
metastatic castrate-sensitive prostate cancer, as well as
metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, which was
submitted for approval to the EMA in April
2022.
"We are excited to announce the addition of Zejula to our
portfolio," said Behzad
Khosrowshahi, Chief Executive Officer of DRI Healthcare
Trust. "Our expanding expertise in oncology products helped us
identify a versatile product with multiple pipeline indications
that present significant potential sales growth. This accretive
transaction adds another long-term asset, providing immediate cash
flows to the Trust with significant growth potential."
The transaction entitles DRI to a net 0.5% royalty on worldwide
net sales of Zejula by GSK plc ("GSK"). DRI will be entitled to
receive quarterly royalty payments on a one-quarter lag based on
sales beginning July 1, 2022 and will
receive its first payment in Q4 2022. The royalty term is expected
to continue for at least another 10 years worldwide.
Zejula is marketed by GSK worldwide excluding certain
Asian territories, for all indications except for prostate
cancer, which, pending regulatory approvals, will be marketed by
Johnson & Johnson. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
markets Zejula in Japan for all
indications, as well as Taiwan and
South Korea for all ex-prostate
cancer indications. Zai Lab markets Zejula in
China.
About Zejula
Zejula is an oral small molecule inhibiting poly-ADP ribose
polymerase ("PARP") 1 and PARP2. It is approved in the US, EU,
Japan and China for the treatment of ovarian cancer in
several settings including first-line maintenance treatment. The
PARP family of proteins detects and repairs single strand DNA
breaks by the base-excision repair pathway.
About Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer is considered an orphan disease in the US with
about 20,000 new diagnoses annually. Ovarian cancer is generally
identified and diagnosed at a late stage, since there are no
effective screening methods to identify it earlier and the symptoms
are non-specific in nature. Primary surgical cytoreduction followed
by systemic chemotherapy is the preferred initial management for
women with stage III or IV ovarian cancer. After complete or
partial response to first line treatment with chemotherapy,
patients can be treated with maintenance therapy.
About DRI Healthcare
Trust
DRI Healthcare Trust is managed by DRI Capital Inc. ("DRI
Capital"), the pioneer in global pharmaceutical royalty
monetization with a more than 30-year history of accelerating
innovation by providing capital to inventors, academic institutions
and biopharma companies. Since our founding in 1989, DRI Capital
has deployed more than US$2 billion,
acquiring more than 60 royalties on 40-plus drugs, including Eylea,
Spinraza, Zytiga, Remicade, Keytruda and Stelara. DRI Healthcare
Trust's units are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange in
Canadian dollars under the symbol "DHT.UN" and in U.S. dollars
under the symbol "DHT.U". To learn more, visit
drihealthcaretrust.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
About AnaptysBio
AnaptysBio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on
delivering innovative immunology therapeutics. AnaptysBio is
developing immune cell modulators, including two checkpoint
agonists in clinical-stage development, for autoimmune and
inflammatory disease: rosnilimab, its anti-PD-1 agonist program in
Phase 2 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe alopecia areata;
and ANB032, its anti-BTLA agonist program, which is broadly
applicable to human inflammatory diseases associated with lymphoid
and myeloid immune cell dysregulation. AnaptysBio is also
developing imsidolimab, its anti-IL-36R antibody in Phase 3 for the
treatment of generalized pustular psoriasis, or GPP. AnaptysBio's
antibody pipeline has been developed using its proprietary somatic
hypermutation, or SHM platform, which uses in vitro SHM for
antibody discovery and is designed to replicate key features of the
human immune system to overcome the limitations of competing
antibody discovery technologies. AnaptysBio has also developed
multiple therapeutic antibodies in an immuno-oncology collaboration
with GSK, including an anti-PD-1 antagonist antibody (JEMPERLI
(dostarlimab-gxly) GSK4057190), an anti-TIM-3 antagonist antibody
(cobolimab, GSK4069889) and an anti-LAG-3 antagonist antibody
(GSK4074386).
Caution concerning forward-looking
statements
This news release may contain forward-looking information within
the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking
information generally can be identified by the use of
forward-looking words such as "expect", "continue", "anticipate",
"intend", "aim", "plan", "believe", "budget", "estimate",
"forecast", "foresee", "close to", "target" or negative versions
thereof and similar expressions. Some of the specific
forward-looking information in this news release may include, among
other things, statements that we expect to collect our first
royalty in Q4 2022 and for the entitlement to continue for at least
another 10 years worldwide. Forward-looking information is based on
a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Trust's control that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are
disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. These
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those that
are disclosed in the Trust's most recent annual information form.
The forward-looking information in this news release is based on
our assumptions regarding the performance of our royalty interest
in Zejula®, including with respect to worldwide sales. All
forward-looking information in this news release speaks as of the
date of this news release. The Trust does not undertake to update
any such forward-looking information whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.
Additional information about these assumptions and risks and
uncertainties is contained in the Trust's filings with securities
regulators, including its latest annual information form and
Management's Discussion and Analysis. These filings are also
available at the Trust's website at drihealthcaretrust.com.
SOURCE DRI Healthcare Trust