Currax Pharmaceuticals has acquired US, Canadian, and Mexican rights to Onzetra Xsail intranasal dry powder sumatriptan from OptiNose, which announced that the license agreement includes a $4.8 million upfront payment, plus a 10% royalty on net sales over $3 million in 2020 and a $1 million milestone payment “subject to the achievement of a specified regulatory milestone.”
The FDA approved Onzetra Xsail for the treatment of acute migraines in January 2016. The US rights had been acquired by Avanir Pharmaceuticals in 2013, and Avanir launched Onzetra Xsail in the US in May 2016. Avanir announced in December 2018 that it would return the rights to OptiNose as of March 2019.
OptiNose CEO Peter Miller said, “Currax is an ideal partner for Onzetra Xsail, with its deep experience in the migraine market and commercial focus on innovative treatments for pain and inflammation. We are pleased to have a partner that will continue to make this important treatment option available for patients.”
Currax is led by several former Horizon Pharmaceutical executives, including CEO George Hampton who was Executive VP of the Global Orphan, International Operations, and Primary Care Business Units at Horizon and COO Terry Evans who was previously Senior VP and General Manager of Managed Care and Trade.
Hampton commented, “We are pleased to announce our first acquisition so early in the lifecycle of our company. This acquisition is in line with both our focus to create greater patient access to life changing medicines and our business growth strategy to acquire underappreciated and clinically differentiated medicines.”
Read the OptiNose press release.
Read the Currax Pharmaceuticals press release.
