$200 million of financing for Dermavant

US immuno-dermatology specialist biotech Dermavant Sciences, a subsidiary of Roivant Sciences, has entered into a $160 million revenue interest purchase and sale agreement for its investigational product tapinarof with three participants that include Marathon Asset Management, NovaQuest Capital Management and a third institutional investor located in Boston.

The company concurrently entered into a $40 million senior secured credit facility with the Boston-based firm. Tapinarof is a novel, therapeutic aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulating agent, in development as a once-daily, steroid-free and cosmetically elegant topical cream being investigated for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

Under the terms of the revenue purchase and sale agreement, the participants purchased a capped single-digit percentage revenue interest in net sales of tapinarof for all dermatological indications in the USA in exchange for $160 million in committed funding to be paid to Dermavant, subject to approval of tapinarof by the US Food and Drug Administration.