EUSA Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and rare disease, has entered into a definitive agreement with Janssen Sciences Ireland UC, a subsidiary of Janssen R&D Ireland (Janssen) to acquire the global rights to Sylvant (siltuximab) for $115 million in cash.
The transaction is subject to review under the United States Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, and the parties expect to close following completion of this regulatory review period and the mutual satisfaction of other remaining closing conditions.
Sylvant is approved in more than 40 countries worldwide, including the United States, the European Union, the Republic of Korea and Canada, for the treatment of idiopathic multicentric Castleman’s disease (iMCD), a rare, life threatening, and debilitating orphan condition. Idiopathic MCD is an inflammatory lymphoproliferative disorder, which causes the abnormal overgrowth of immune cells and shares many symptomatic and histological features with lymphoma. The disease can affect individuals at any age, with iMCD representing one-third to half of all multicentric Castleman’s disease (MCD).
“iMCD is a devastating disorder with few treatment options for patients, because the underlying mechanisms are so poorly understood,” said David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, assistant professor of translational medicine and human genetics, and associate director, Patient Impact, Orphan Disease Center, at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sylvant is the only approved treatment for iMCD in the United States and Europe. It first received approval in the United States in 2014, with subsequent approvals occurring in a number of countries thereafter. Since then, Sylvant has achieved rapid revenue growth.
The approval of Sylvant was based on the MCD2001 study (NCT01024036); an international, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial including 79 subjects. More than one-third of subjects in the Sylvant arm had a durable tumour and symptomatic response to treatment plus best supportive care (BSC), compared to none of the subjects who received placebo plus BSC (34 percent versus 0 percent according to stringent criteria; 95 percent CI: 11.1, 54.8; p=0.0012).
“The acquisition of Sylvant represents a significant opportunity for EUSA Pharma. As the only approved treatment for this orphan condition, Sylvant highlights the importance of ongoing research and development in areas where there are few patients yet high unmet medical needs,” said Lee Morley, EUSA Pharma’s CEO. “Following the recent divestment of our critical care portfolio, EUSA Pharma has transformed into a rapidly growing biopharmaceutical company focused solely on oncology and rare disease, backed by leading life science investor EW Healthcare Partners.
Janssen discovered and developed Sylvant.
(Source: EUSA Pharma)
