Esperion monetizes bempedoic royalties

Michigan, USA-based pharma Esperion (Nasdaq: ESPR) has entered into a Royalty Purchase Agreement with OMERS Life Sciences (OMERS).

Under the terms of the deal, Esperion received around $304.7 million in cash from OMERS in exchange for 100% interest, subject to a cap, in Esperion’s royalty entitlement on Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo’s (TYO: 4568) European subsidiary (DSE) net sales of cholesterol reduction drug bempedoic acid products in the European territories for which DSE has an exclusive license from Esperion.

The agreement means OMERS will receive this tiered royalty, which ranges from 15%-25% of net bempedoic acid (trade-named Nilemdo in some markets) product sales in Europe, until it has received an aggregate amount equal to 1.7x investment. Thereafter, all future DSE royalties will revert back to Esperion. Esperion will continue to receive any earned sales-based milestone payments following the first achievement of defined net sales under the DSE agreement, which could cumulatively amount to up to $300 million in potential future payments.