QLT licenses Atrigel for up to $30 million
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
QLT has licensed the rights to its Atrigel sustained-release drug technology to Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals for up to $30 million. QLT USA, the trademark holder of Atrigel, has signed an exclusive licence agreement with Reckitt for the development of the technology, except for certain rights being retained by QLT USA and its prior licensees. QLT USA has received an aggregate up-front payment of $25 million and could receive potential payments of up to $5 million based on the successful development of two Atrigel-formulated products. Reckitt acquired 18 employees from QLT USA and will take over its corporate facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. Bob Butchofsky, QLT president and CEO, said the deal would bring the company's total proceeds from its announced non-core asset transactions to around $240 million. QLT plans to sell a remaining non-core asset, Eligard, a leuprolide acetate for injectable suspension for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer, soon. Eligard is a registered trademark of Sanofi-Aventis.