Athenex Announces Sale of Revenues from U.S. and European Royalty and Milestone Interests in Klisyri® (tirbanibulin) to Sagard Healthcare Partners and Oaktree
June 22 2022 - 8:30AM
Athenex, Inc., (NASDAQ: ATNX), a global biopharmaceutical company
dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of
novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions,
today announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the sale
of revenues from U.S. and European royalty and milestone interests
in Klisyri® (tirbanibulin) to Sagard Healthcare Partners and funds
managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”) for $85
million. Approximately $80 million of the proceeds from the
transaction will be used toward partially paying down existing debt
and operating the business, with $5 million to be placed into
escrow and paid to Athenex upon the satisfaction of certain
conditions. The transaction is subject to customary closing
conditions.
“We are executing on our new strategy and will continue to
deliver on the objectives that we laid out to extend our cash
runway by over 18 months. We are pleased to enter into this
agreement, as we believe it generates meaningful benefits for our
stockholders as we continue to pay down debt and extend our cash
runway,” said Dr. Johnson Lau, Chief Executive Officer of Athenex.
“The sale of the revenues from the U.S. and European royalty and
milestone interests in Klisyri® represents another step in
continuing to monetize non-core assets to focus on developing our
potential best-in-class NKT cell platform.”
Ladenburg Thalmann &
Co. Inc. and Royalty/Revenue Interest Capital
Advisors LLC served as financial advisors
to Athenex and Cooley LLP served as legal
counsel to Athenex. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and
Popeo, P.C. served as legal counsel to Sagard Holdings
and Oaktree.
About Athenex, Inc.
Founded in 2003, Athenex, Inc. is a
global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to
becoming a leader in the discovery, development, and
commercialization of next generation cell therapy drugs for the
treatment of cancer. In pursuit of this mission,
Athenex leverages years of experience in research and
development, clinical trials, regulatory standards, and
manufacturing. The Company’s current clinical pipeline is derived
mainly from the following core technologies: (1) Cell therapy based
on NKT cells (2) Orascovery, based on a P-glycoprotein inhibitor,
and (3) Src Kinase Inhibition. Athenex’s employees worldwide are
dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients by creating
more active, accessible and tolerable treatments. For more
information, please visit www.athenex.com.
About Oaktree
Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers
specializing in alternative investments, with $164 billion in
assets under management as of March 31, 2022. The firm emphasizes
an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to
investments in credit, private equity, real assets and listed
equities. The firm has over 1,000 employees and offices in 20
cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit
Oaktree’s website at http://www.oaktreecapital.com/
About Sagard
Sagard is a multi-strategy alternative asset
manager with more than US$14 billion under management and
professionals located in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Sagard seeks
attractive investment returns by combining its entrepreneurial and
disciplined culture with flexible capital and a unique global
network of portfolio companies, limited partners, advisors and
other valued relationships. As a firm, Sagard operates platforms
that invest across five asset classes: venture capital, private
equity, private credit, real estate and healthcare royalties.
Through its ecosystem partners, Sagard also engages in private
wealth management and new venture creation.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the
statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press
release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are typically identified by terms such as “believe,”
“continue,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “will,” and
similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from
those explicit or implicit in the forward-looking statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially include: our history of operating losses and the
substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern;
our strategic pivot to focus on our cell therapy platform and our
plan to dispose of non-core assets; our ability to obtain financing
to fund operations, successfully redirect our resources and reduce
our operating expenses; our ability to refinance, extend or repay
our substantial indebtedness owed to our senior secured lender; the
development stage of our primary clinical candidates, including NKT
Cell Therapy and related risks involved in drug development,
clinical trials, regulation, uncertainties around regulatory
reviews and approvals; the preclinical and clinical results for
Athenex’s drug candidates, which may not support further
development of such drug candidates; the Company’s ability to
successfully demonstrate the safety and efficacy of its drug
candidates and gain approval of its drug candidates on a timely
basis, if at all; the uncertainty of ongoing legal proceedings;
risks related to our ability to successfully integrate the business
of Kuur into our existing businesses, including uncertainties
associated with maintaining relationships with customers, vendors
and employees, as well as differences in operations, cultures, and
management philosophies that may delay successful integration and
our ability to support the added cost burden of Kuur’s business;
risks related to counterparty performance, including our reliance
on third parties for success in certain areas of Athenex’s
business; risks and uncertainties inherent in litigation, including
purported stockholder class actions; the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic and other macroeconomic factors, such as the war in
Ukraine, and their ongoing impact on our operations, supply chain,
cash flow and financial condition; competition; intellectual
property risks; risks relating to doing business internationally
and in China; the risk of development, operational delays,
production slowdowns or stoppages or other interruptions at our
manufacturing facility as well as our ability to find alternative
sources of supply to meet our obligations and requirements; the
risk that our common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq Global
Market if we are unable to regain compliance with its continued
listing standards, and the other risk factors set forth from time
to time in our SEC filings, copies of which are available for free
in the Investor Relations section of our website at
http://ir.athenex.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254495&p=irol-sec or upon
request from our Investor Relations Department. All information
provided in this release is as of the date hereof and we assume no
obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking
statements, except as required by law.
Athenex Contacts
Investor Relations
Daniel Lang, MDAthenex, Inc.E-mail: danlang@athenex.com
Caileigh DoughertyAthenex, Inc.E-mail:
cdougherty@athenex.com
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