DALLAS, Dec. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SWK Holdings
Corporation (Nasdaq: SWKH), a life sciences focused specialty
finance company catering to small- and mid-sized commercial-stage
companies, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Enteris BioPharma, received a second milestone payment of
$2.5 million from Cara Therapeutics
(Nasdaq: CARA) related to the license agreement for
Peptelligence® oral formulation technology utilized in
Oral KORSUVA™, the oral formulation of Cara's first-in-class KOR
agonist, CR845/difelikefalin. SWK is entitled to receive
$1.5 million of this payment per the
contractual splits agreed to in the Enteris acquisition
agreement.
This milestone payment follows a prior milestone payment of
$2.5 million received in October of
which SWK received $1.5 million. SWK
is eligible to receive additional potential milestone payments over
upcoming quarters, subject to the achievement of certain
development milestones for Oral KORSUVA.
"Enteris has now completed two development milestones for the
ongoing work with Cara Therapeutics and Oral KORSUVA, netting SWK a
total of $3 million," stated
Winston Black, Chairman and CEO of
SWK. "The ability to meet these milestones highlights the
strength of Enteris' scientific and manufacturing teams, as well as
the value potential of the Oral KORSUVA licensing agreement."
Mr. Black continued, "The receipt of this milestone caps a
productive second half of 2020 for SWK. As previously announced, we
closed two royalty purchase transactions in August and October and
received a prior milestone from Cara in October. Over the last
week, we closed two additional transactions, one royalty purchase
and one structured credit financing, deploying approximately
$27 million. We believe the
combination of the milestones and our specialty finance activities
illustrate the attractiveness of our business model and our ability
to source differentiated transactions with attractive,
risk-adjusted returns."
Oral KORSUVA was engineered using Enteris' Peptelligence
technology, which is designed to enable the oral delivery of
peptides and BCS class II, III and IV small molecules. Oral
KORSUVA is currently the subject of three separate late-stage
clinical trials for pruritus in patients with hepatic impairment
due to primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), stage III-V chronic
kidney disease (CKD), and atopic dermatitis (AD). In
December 2019, Cara announced
positive top-line results from its Phase 2 clinical trial of Oral
KORSUVA for the treatment of pruritus in patients with stage III-IV
(moderate-to-severe) chronic kidney disease. Cara also
announced it intends to complete an End of Phase 2 Meeting with the
FDA in the first quarter of 2021 and that it intends to initiate
the safety portion of the Phase 3 program in the fourth quarter of
2020.
In August 2019, Enteris and Cara
entered into a licensing agreement whereby Enteris granted to Cara
a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license to the Peptelligence
technology to develop, manufacture and commercialize Oral KORSUVA
worldwide, excluding Japan and
South Korea. Enteris is eligible to receive milestone
payments upon the successful achievement of certain development,
regulatory and commercial milestones and low single-digit royalties
based on net sales in the licensed territory.
About SWK Holdings:
SWK Holdings Corporation is a
specialized finance company with a focus on the global healthcare
sector. SWK partners with ethical product marketers and royalty
holders to provide flexible financing solutions at an attractive
cost of capital to create long-term value for both SWK's business
partners and its investors. SWK believes its financing structures
achieve an optimal partnership for companies, institutions and
inventors seeking capital for expansion or capital and estate
planning by allowing its partners to monetize future cash flow with
minimal dilution to their equity stakes. SWK also owns Enteris
BioPharma, whose core Peptelligence™ drug delivery technology
creates oral formulations of peptide-based and BCS class II, III,
and IV small molecules. With Enteris, SWK has the opportunity to
grow its specialty finance business by actively building a
wholly-owned portfolio of milestones and royalties through
licensing activities. Additional information on the life science
finance market is available on the Company's website at
www.swkhold.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements including
words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends,"
"estimates," "plan," "will," "may," "look forward," "intend,"
"guidance," "future" or similar expressions are forward-looking
statements. Because these statements reflect SWK's current views,
expectations and beliefs concerning future events, these
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.
Investors should note that many factors, as more fully described
under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in SWK's Form 10-K,
Form 10-Q and Form 8-K filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and as otherwise enumerated herein, could affect the
Company's future financial results and could cause actual results
to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release
are qualified by these risk factors. These are factors that,
individually or in the aggregate, could cause the Company's actual
results to differ materially from expected and historical results.
You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We
assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future
developments or otherwise.
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SOURCE SWK Holdings Corporation