Talazoparib progress triggers milestone for BioMarin

BioMarin Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: BMRN) says it has received $20 million in milestone payments as a result of regulatory progress for its out-licensed breast cancer compound.

These milestone payments were triggered by the US Food and Drug Administration acceptance of licensee Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) New Drug Application (NDA) submission for talazoparib and by the European Medicines Agency of a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for the drug. These milestone payments are part of an agreement made with Medivation, when the company purchased talazoparib. Medivation was acquired by Pfizer under a $14 billion deal completed in September 2016, largely motivated by access to itsblockbuster cancer drug Xtandi (enzalutamide) as well as talazoparib.

In August 2015, Medivation and BioMarin entered into an asset purchase agreement under which Medivation acquired all worldwide rights to talazoparib, an investigational, once-daily, oral poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, which has been evaluated in clinical studies for the treatment of patients with germline BRCA 1/2-mutated locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Under the agreement, Medivation, and thus Pfizer, is responsible for all research, development, regulatory and commercialization activities for all indications on a global basis.