Ligand acquires milestone, royalty rights to PTX-022 from Palvella

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced the acquisition of economic rights to PTX-022 from Palvella Therapeutics. PTX-022 is a novel, topical formulation of rapamycin currently in Phase 2/3 development for the treatment of pachyonychia congenita, a rare skin disorder for which no FDA-approved treatment exists. Ligand will pay $10M to Palvella Therapeutics and in return will receive a tiered royalty on net sales in the mid-to-upper single digits, as well as regulatory and financing milestones. Ligand will not incur any expenses to develop or commercialize PTX-022. “This transaction provides Palvella Therapeutics with capital to complete its planned clinical trials that could be the basis for registration and approval of a novel and important new medicine,” said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand. “The PTX-022 program is being managed by a team of distinguished and capable scientists who have identified a novel way to treat PC. This deal has the potential to provide lucrative economics to Ligand for a drug that could launch in 2022, should its development be successful and if it is approved by the FDA. Ligand is assembling a large collection of significant royalty-bearing assets and partnerships for drugs, many of which could launch over the next several years. Ligand expects to continue entering into license agreements from its existing technologies and will continue to explore ways to acquire new revenue streams through product investments, such as this deal with Palvella, or through company acquisitions.”
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