Santhera out-licenses North America vamorolone rights to Catalyst

Shares of Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) were up almost 8% at 0.97 francs in early trading, after the Swiss rare diseases company revealed a lucrative licensing deal with Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CPRX) for its vamorolone in the North America.

Santhera will receive up to $231 million (including equity investment), plus royalty payments on product sales with near-term cash proceeds of $126 million. In turn, Santhera will grant Catalyst exclusive commercialization rights to vamorolone in North America, comprising the USA, Canada and Mexico.

At closing, Santhera will receive an upfront cash payment of $75 million. In addition, Catalyst will make an equity investment of $15 million through the purchase of 14,146,882 treasury shares at a price of 0.9477 francs per share which corresponds to the ten-day volume-weighted average price ending two days prior to signing of the agreement, subject to a six-month post-closing lock-up and standstill.