Biohaven Pharmaceutical will receive up to $250 million from Royalty Pharma on closing of a deal to fund development of its zavegepant (formerly vazegepant) calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist program, which includes intranasal zavegepant, the companies said.
In March 2020, Biohaven announced that it was ready to advance intranasal zavegepant into Phase 3 development for the treatment of migraines; the next month, the company said that it had received FDA clearance for a Phase 2 trial of the nasal formulation for the treatment of COVID-19.
The funding also will support the launch of Biohaven’s Nurtec rimegepant for the treatment of migraine. Biohaven will receive $150 million on closing and an additional $100 when it begins the Phase 3 program for its oral formulation of zavegepant.
Biohaven CEO Vlad Coric commented, “Royalty Pharma is an industry leader in funding innovative biopharmaceutical therapies and we are pleased to expand our partnership. This transaction brings up to $250 million in funding for zavegepant and will allow us to quickly broaden our CGRP receptor antagonist franchise into migraine adjacencies, non-migraine indications and new formulations across the globe. Our intranasal zavegepant is the first and only intranasal CGRP receptor antagonist with the promise to deliver an ultra-rapid onset of action for migraine and is also going to be studied in a number of non-migraine indications including the ongoing study investigating its efficacy in pulmonary complications associated with COVID-19 infection.”
Read the Biohaven and Royalty Pharma press release.
