US-based precision therapy company Blueprint Medicines has teamed up with investment firms Sixth Street and Royalty Pharma for strategic financing of up to $1.25bn.
Under the terms of the agreement with Sixth Street, Blueprint would receive an upfront payment of $250m for royalties from sales of AYVAKIT/AYVAKYT and BLU-263.
The company is also eligible to receive up to $400m in a senior secured credit facility and $260m in a potential credit facility to support its business development opportunities.
Pursuant to its agreement with Royalty Pharma, Blueprint is expected to receive $175m in an upfront payment and up to $165m in potential milestone payments.
The company will allow Roche to monetise royalties from the net sales of its drug GAVRETO outside of the US, excluding Greater China.
Blueprint said that the financing from life science-focused investors would provide capital to expand its pipeline towards commercialisation and pursue development opportunities.
Blueprint Medicines chief executive officer Kate Haviland said: “This attractive deal puts Blueprint Medicines in a very strong financial position to drive rapid growth while maintaining our path to profitability in the coming years.
“The combination of our strong cash position, multiple drivers of top-line revenue, and diversity of important pipeline programs uniquely positions us to continue building a leading precision therapy company and bring transformative medicines to patients worldwide.
“Executing this deal with such favourable terms in the current market environment speaks to the quality of the assets, the aligned confidence in the commercial opportunities, and the investment opportunity that Blueprint Medicines represents overall.”
AYVAKIT (avapritinib) is a kinase inhibitor approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adults with types of systemic mastocytosis (SM) and leukaemia, among others.
The drug has been approved by the European Commission (EC) and is available in the European Union (EU) under the brand name AYVAKYT.
GAVRETO (pralsetinib) is a once-daily oral targeted therapy, being jointly developed by Blueprint Medicines and Roche, excluding Greater China.
The drug is designed to selectively and potently target oncogenic RET alterations, including secondary RET mutations predicted to drive resistance to treatment.
It has been approved by the US FDA, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Cowen and Company served as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter as legal advisor to Blueprint Medicines on the transaction.
In addition, Cooley served as legal advisor to Sixth Street, while Gibson Dunn served as legal advisor to Royalty Pharma.