Forendo licenses fispemifene to Apricus in USA

Finland-based Forendo Pharma, a Swedish firm Karolinska Development (Nasdaq OMX: KDEV) portfolio company, has entered into a definitive agreement to out-license the US development and commercialization rights for fispemifene to the USA’s Apricus Biosciences (Nasdaq: APRI).

Under the terms of the accord, Forendo is entitled to success driven milestone payments totaling up to of $305 million plus sales royalties. Karolinska Development has an ownership of 21% in Forendo Pharma, which was established in June 2013. Other partners include Novo Seeds and Finnvera. Apricus will make a $5 million upfront cash payment to Forendo, and will transfer around 3.6 million Apricus common shares, representing $7.5 million in value based on the 360-day average market price of the Apricus stock.

The agreement includes additional potential clinical and regulatory milestones payments to Forendo for up to $45 million, including US Food and Drug Administration approval, as well as commercial milestone payments totaling up to $260 million based on achieving specified annual net sales of fispemifene levels up to $1 billion in the US. Apricus will also pay tiered double-digit royalties based on net sales once the product is commercialized.