UroGen Pharma (NSDQ:URGN) announced today that it entered into a funding agreement with RTW Investments worth $75 million.
Princeton, N.J.-based UroGen’s agreement with RTW will see the biopharmaceutical company receive $75 million in upfront cash in return for tiered, future cash payments based on aggregate worldwide annual net product sales of Jelmyto (mitomycin) for pyelocalyceal solution, as well as UGN-102 (also mitomycin), if approved, according to a news release.
In exchange for the upfront payment, RTW’s future cash payments hinge on the annual sales of Jelmyto ranging from high to low single-digits based on certain annual sales thresholds, which are subject to upward adjustment if certain sales and regulatory milestones are not met.
Future payments for both Jelmyto and UGN-102 will terminate following the date that RTW has received an aggregate amount pursuant to the payments of $300 million.
UroGen develops the RTGel reverse-thermal hydrogel which is a proprietary sustained release, hydrogel-based platform technology designed to improve the therapeutic profiles of existing drugs. The sustained release technology can enable longer exposure of the urinary tract tissue to medications to make local therapy a potentially more effective option.
UGN-102, the company’s first commercial product, is designed for the intravesical treatment of patients with low-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. It is designed to ablate tumors by non-surgical means.
“UroGen’s RTGel platform has demonstrated the ability to overcome historical treatment barriers, work with anatomical complexity and thus unlock new therapeutic potential, including those conditions targeted by Jelmyto and UGN-102,” RTW Investments managing director of strategic finance Brad Sitko said in the release. “We are proud to partner with the UroGen management team and look forward to supporting the company’s goal of building a leading uro-oncology company.”
“This important non-dilutive transaction provides a clear path to fund the ongoing launch of Jelmyto and to advance our UGN-102 program, including the ongoing Phase 3 ATLAS study,” added UroGen Pharma CFO Molly Henderson. “We are proud to partner with RTW, a leading, research-driven healthcare investor, allowing us to access capital that is aligned with our vision and invest further in our mission of developing treatments for patients with urologic and specialty cancers.”
