Reuters: Deals: ThromboGenics may get $490 million from Novartis deal

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ThromboGenics may get $490 million from Novartis deal Mar 16th 2012, 12:24 BRUSSELS | Fri Mar 16, 2012 8:24am EDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian biotech company ThromboGenics (THR.BR) said Novartis (NOVN.VX) was to commercialize its main drug - eye disease treatment ocriplasmin - outside the United States in a deal that could be worth more than 375 million euros ($490 million). ThromboGenics said on Friday it would receive an initial 75 million euros and a further 90 million in potential near-term payments from Alcon, Novartis's opthalmic division. Shares in ThromboGenics, which will also receive royalties on sales of the eye disease treatment ocriplasmin, were up 7.0 percent at 24.99 euros at 1210 GMT. "The partnership with Alcon Novartis is definitely going to be transformational for ThromboGenics," chief executive Patrik De Haes told an investor call. "It would provide us additional significant financial resources up front in the year to come but, more importantly, it will provide us, over the longer term, highly attractive royalty sales." ThromboGenics will turn a profit this year thanks to payments from the deal, and should be close to making a profit next year, when it expects to be getting sales revenue. "We believe this deal can be classified a very nice partnering agreement," KBC Securities analyst Jan De Kerpel said in a note to clients. Alcon, Novartis's second-largest division, will introduce ocriplasmin in 40 countries. The drug has completed phase III trials and is under review by the European Medicines Agency to treat vitreomacular adhesion (VMA). VMA can lead to distorted vision and the formation of a macular hole, a small break in the macula, located in the centre of the retina. Surgery is the only current treatment. "The availability of ocriplasmin may also enable retina specialists to treat patients earlier than they do with surgery," ThromboGenics said. "This could address a significant unmet need as earlier intervention has been shown to limit the progress of the disease and its related complications." Alcon said 300,000 patients in Europe could potentially benefit from the new therapy. ThromboGenics said it would concentrate on commercializing ocriplasmin in the United States, where it was expecting a launch within 12 months. ($1 = 0.7651 euro) (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Ben Deighton in Brussels, and Catherine Bosley in Zurich; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford and Dan Lalor) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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