Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC Licensing Agreement and Share Acquisition (1311B)
March 31 2017 - 2:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMDPH
RNS Number : 1311B
Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC
31 March 2017
Friday, 31 March 2017
Dechra(R) Pharmaceuticals PLC
(Dechra or the Company)
Licensing Agreement with Animal Ethics Pty Ltd and Share
Acquisition
The Board of Dechra is pleased to announce it has entered a long
term Intellectual Property Licensing Agreement (the Agreement) with
Animal Ethics Pty Ltd (Animal Ethics), an Australia-based company
focused on developing ethical pain relief products in animal
health. The Agreement gives Dechra the rights to sell and market
Animal Ethics' product Tri-Solfen(R) (Tri-Solfen) for all animal
species in all international markets, excluding Australia and New
Zealand. Under the terms of the Agreement Dechra has agreed to make
milestone payments on signing, upon the first and second
anniversaries of the Agreement and on the first two major species
approvals in markets with significant potential. Additionally a
royalty will be paid on all net sales.
Separately, Dechra has acquired 33.0% of the issued share
capital of Medical Ethics Pty Ltd (Medical Ethics), the parent
company of Animal Ethics (which is its only principal subsidiary),
for a total consideration of c.AUD$18.0 million (GBP11.1 million).
The c.AUD$18.0 million will be split as to AUD$9.0 million of new
equity to provide funding to Animal Ethics and the balance to
acquire existing shares from the current shareholders. Under the
terms of the Agreement, Dechra will have a seat on the Medical
Ethics' Board and minority shareholder rights.
Animal Ethics is an Australian business that was incorporated in
2005. The three founders and partners had the idea to improve
animal welfare by reducing pain in farm animals during routine
treatments such as castration, tail docking, debudding and
dehorning, in multiple species. Animal Ethics has successfully
developed a topical product that is sprayed on to a wound which
simultaneously anaesthetises, relieves pain, controls bleeding and
protects against infection. Tri-Solfen has 35 patents granted
across the majority of the world's major animal health markets. Its
primary use and area for initial development and regulatory focus
is in sheep, pigs and cattle; however, other opportunities have
been identified in horses and companion animals. The product has
already been successfully registered for sheep in Australia and is
marketed by a global animal health company with current annualised
sales for this one application achieving AUD$4.0 million per annum.
The development process is underway to register the product in
global markets, with initial focus being for pigs in Europe and
pigs and cattle in the US; the first registrations are targeted for
approval in 2020. The global market potential is conservatively
estimated to be c.AUD$300.0 million; however, with the increasing
focus on the ethical treatment of farm animals, this target could
be exceeded once multi-species approval is achieved in the major
markets. The reduced infection risk, improved wound healing and
lower level of animal stress that result from Tri-Solfen use,
combined with the low cost per dose, make a strong economic case
for market adoption.
Animal welfare is becoming a major commercial and political
issue for livestock industries. Prior to the introduction of
Tri-Solfen, the Australian wool industry was facing international
wool boycotts and the EU and US pig and cattle industries are now
facing similar conflicts from welfare advocacy groups, consumer
groups and retailers, with the consequential legislative pressure
to ban procedures without the use of anaesthetic. The European
Commission is currently undertaking a review with a view to
creating an industry welfare quality standard for utilisation on
product labelling. Tri-Solfen provides a simple, affordable, safe,
practical and efficient product that will address many animal
welfare concerns. In addition to the ethical advantages that
Tri-Solfen offers, the relatively low cost of the require dosage
drives a strong economic argument for usage.
Commenting on the Agreement and the share acquisition, Dechra's
Chief Executive Officer, Ian Page said:
"Having been in dialogue with Animal Ethics for a number of
years, I am delighted to have secured this long term relationship.
Once approved for major markets, Tri-Solfen significantly
strengthens our FAP portfolio, will further our geographical
expansion strategy and will enhance Dechra's reputation of
providing clinically necessary, high quality, ethical veterinary
pharmaceuticals".
Adding to Mr Page's comments, Allan Giffard, Managing Director
of Medical Ethics, says:
"The investment by Dechra will accelerate Animal Ethics'
programme to develop urgently needed pain relief products for
livestock animals globally. The partnership creates a wonderful
opportunity for our company to pursue its mission to develop and
deliver products that alleviate pain and minimise suffering
associated with wounds and surgical procedures in livestock and
companion animals and to progress Medical Ethics' opportunity in
humans".
Enquiries:
Dechra Pharmaceuticals
PLC
Ian Page, Chief Executive Office: +44 (0) 1606
Officer 814 730
Richard Cotton, Chief Financial
Officer
e-mail: corporate.enquiries@dechra.com
TooleyStreet Communications
Ltd
Fiona Tooley, Director Mobile: +44 (0) 7785
e-mail: fiona@tooleystreet.com 703 523
Office: +44 (0) 121
309 0099
About Dechra
Dechra is an international specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals
and related products business. Our expertise is in the development,
manufacture, and sales and marketing of high quality products
exclusively for veterinarians worldwide. The majority of Dechra's
products are focused on key therapeutic categories where we have
leading market positions, and many of our products are used to
treat medical conditions for which there is no other effective
solution or have a clinical or dosing advantage over competitor
products. For more information, please visit: www.dechra.com.
Stock Code: Full Listing (Pharmaceuticals): DPH
About Medical Ethics Pty Ltd
Medical Ethics Pty Ltd is an Australian privately owned research
and development company, specialising in the development of pain
relief and wound care products for livestock, companion animals and
humans.
Trademarks
Dechra and the Dechra "D" logo are registered trademarks of
Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC.
Forward Looking Statement
This document may contain certain forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements reflect the knowledge and
information available to the Company during the preparation and up
to the publication of this document. By their very nature, these
statements depend upon circumstances and relate to events that may
occur in the future thereby involve a degree of uncertainty.
Therefore, nothing in this document should be construed as a profit
forecast by the Company.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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