BioPharma Credit makes first major investment since IPO – BioPharma Credit PLC says that, on 21 November 2017, it and BioPharma Credit Investments IV, S.àr.L.entered into a definitive loan agreement for up to US$500 million with TESARO, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRO), a oncology focused biopharmaceutical company with a market capitalisation of US$4.5 billion.
TESARO has commercial operations in the United States and Europe, and currently markets ZEJULA (niraparib) and VARUBI (rolapitant). TESARO intends to use BioPharma Credit’s loan to “strengthen its leading PARP inhibitor franchise in ovarian cancer, further expand the development of ZEJULA in other tumor types in order to help realise its full potential, and rapidly advance its robust immuno-oncology portfolio using combination-based approaches.”
The manager, Pedro Gonzalez de Cosio, CEO of Pharmakon Advisors, LP, said “We are pleased to partner with TESARO in this transaction. We believe that TESARO is well on its way to becoming an oncology leader with an excellent management team, portfolio of commercial products with blockbuster potential in their current indications, and an exciting clinical development program that will one day offer patients additional indications for niraparib as well as new immuno-oncology therapies.”
BioPharma Credit will invest up to US$370m (US$222m in the first tranche and up to an additional US$148m by December 20, 2018) and BioPharma-IV will invest up to US$130m in parallel. The loan has a term of seven years and is secured by TESARO’s U.S. rights to ZEJULA and VARUBI . The first US$300 million tranche bears interest at LIBOR plus 8%, with the second optional tranche bearing interest at LIBOR plus 7.5%. The LIBOR rate is subject to a floor of 1% and certain caps. Each tranche of the loan is interest only for the first two years, amortises over the remaining term, and can be prepaid at TESARO’s discretion, at any time, subject to prepayment fees. The first US$300 million tranche is expected to close and be funded within 10 business days.
About ZEJULA and VARUBI
ZEJULA is a once-daily, oral poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1/2 inhibitor approved for the maintenance treatment of women with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy in the U.S. It is the market-leading PARP inhibitor in the U.S. PARP inhibition interferes with DNA repair, leading to accumulation of single strand breaks. Single strand breaks become double strand breaks, which are not repaired due to deficient DNA repair pathways present in many ovarian tumors. In the Phase 3 NOVA trial, the median progression free survival (the time when a patient is living with cancer but the disease isn’t worsening) for patients treated with ZEJULA was nearly 4x higher than placebo in the gBRCAmut cohort (a group of patients with a gene mutation associated with breast cancer) and more than 2x higher than placebo in the non-gBRCAmut cohort. Treatment with ZEJULA reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 74% in patients with germline BRCA mutations and by 55% in patients without germline BRCA mutations. ZEJULA received U.S. FDA approval in March 2017 and EMEA approval in November 2017. TESARO has ongoing and planned trials for first line and recurrent ovarian cancer and expansion into certain other solid tumors. ZEJULA’s Composition of Matter IP covers the drug through 2030.
VARUBI (rolapitant) is approved for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in the U.S. and Europe.
BPCR : BioPharma Credit makes first major investment since IPO