Biohaven secures funding deal with Royalty Pharma valued up to $450M

Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. (BHVN +7.4%) inks an agreement with Royalty Pharma aimed at advancing its CGRP receptor antagonist program via the development of zavegepant (formerly vazegepant), in development for migraine and non-migraine indications in both oral and nasal spray formulations.

Under the terms of the deal, Royalty will pay Biohaven $150M at closing and $100M when Phase 3 development of the oral version begins. Royalty has also agreed to buy up to $200M of Biohaven’s Commercial Launch Preferred Equity over the period 2021 – 2024 to support the ongoing launch of Nurtec ODT (rimegepant), approved by the FDA in February for the acute treatment of migraine in adults.

In exchange, Royalty will receive a 0.4% royalty on global sales of Nurtec ODT and up to a 3.0% royalty on global sales of zavegepant, if approved, plus milestone payments ranging from 0.6x to 2.95x the amount of zavegepant funding depending on the number of regulatory nods achieved. The monies will be paid over a 10-year period.

Update: Biohaven has also secured $500M in debt financing with investment shop Sixth Street to support the Nurtec ODT launch. $375M will be available at closing and $125M will be available if net sales reach $45M in either of the first two quarters of 2021.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3602903-biohaven-secures-funding-deal-royalty-pharma-valued-up-to-450m