AcelRx gets $65 million from the partial sale of Zalviso European royalties

US specialty pharma firm AcelRx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AVRX) has announced the monetization of the expected royalty stream from the sales of Zalviso (sufentanil sublingual tablet system) in the European Union by its commercial partner, German family-owned Grunenthal. AcelRx’ shares gained 5.8% to $4.20 in pre-market trading on the news.

Gross proceeds from the sale are $65 million from PDL BioPharma (Nasdaq: PDLI). Specifically, PDL will receive 75% of the European royalties under the Grunenthal license as well as 80% of the first four commercial milestones, subject to a capped amount.  AcelRx will receive 25% of the royalties, 20% of the first four commercial milestones, 100% of the remaining commercial milestones and all development milestones, including a potential $15 million payment for the approval of the Zalviso marketing authorization in Europe.

Proposed use of the proceeds