21st Apr 2008 07:04
Vernalis PLC21 April 2008 Vernalis and Paul Capital Healthcare Sign €18.4 Million Financing Agreement NEW YORK, NY, and WINNERSH, U.K., April 21, 2008 -- Paul Capital Healthcare andVernalis plc (LSE: VER) today announced that they have signed a financingagreement relating to frovatriptan, Vernalis' product for the treatment ofmigraine. Under the agreement, Vernalis will receive approximately €18.4 millionin cash from Paul Capital Healthcare and, in return, Paul Capital Healthcarewill receive approximately 90 per cent of Menarini's payments to Vernalis undertheir exclusive license and supply agreement for the commercialization offrovatriptan in Europe and certain other territories. Vernalis will continue tosupply Menarini with frovatriptan active pharmaceutical ingredient. Frovatriptan is currently approved for the acute treatment of migraine inEurope, the United States, Canada and seven Central American countries. "Earlier this year, Vernalis restructured its operations to focus on itsinnovative discovery programs and to advance its promising pipeline ofdevelopment stage products to the point at which they can be partnered. Thistransaction with Paul Capital Healthcare secures significant, non-dilutive fundsfor Vernalis, giving us the platform to rebuild new shareholder value in themedium term," said Tony Weir, CFO, Vernalis. Dr. Ken Macleod, a partner at Paul Capital Healthcare, said: "Migraine affectsabout 10 percent of people and leads to billions of dollars in lost productivityeach year. After extensively evaluating both the clinical and commercial datafor frovatriptan, we believe this drug is positioned to capture a growing shareof the market for migraine therapies. Growth capital is the hallmark of thecompanies and products in which Paul Capital Healthcare invests, and provides acompelling rationale for adding our investment in Vernalis and frovatriptan toour portfolio of investments." About Paul Capital Partners and Paul Capital Healthcare Through its funds, Paul Capital Healthcare is one of the largest dedicatedhealthcare investors globally, with more than $1.4 billion in equity capitalcommitments and debt facilities under management. Combined, the Paul CapitalHealthcare funds have invested more than $925 million in the pharmaceutical,biotechnology, and medical device sectors. These investments are focused oncommercial stage companies and products, and consist of investments in the formof royalties, revenue interests, debt and equity. Additional information on PaulCapital Healthcare can be found at www.paulcapitalhealthcare.com. Paul CapitalPartners manages nearly $5 billion in equity capital commitments for its threeinvestment platforms, which include Paul Capital Healthcare, Private EquitySecondaries and Top Tier Fund-of-Funds. The firm has offices in New York, SanFrancisco, Paris, London, Hong Kong, and Sao Paolo. About Vernalis Vernalis is a specialty bio-pharmaceutical company focused on products marketedto specialist neurologists. The company has two marketed products, Frova(R) andApokyn(R), and a development pipeline focused on neurology and central nervoussystem disorders. The company has six products in clinical development andcollaborations with leading, global pharmaceutical companies including Novartis,Biogen Idec, Endo, Menarini and Chiesi: Product Indication Phase Phase Phase Registration Market Marketing I II III Rights Apokyn(R) Parkinson's X North America Disease Frova(R) Migraine X Menarini (EU-royalties) Frova(R) Menstrual X Menarini Migraine (EU-royalties) Prevention V1512 Parkinson's X World Wide Disease (excl. Italy) V10153 Thrombotic X World Wide Disorders V3381 Neuropathic X World Wide Pain V2006 Parkinson's X US Co-promotion Disease Biogen Idec V24343 Obesity X World Wide AUY922 Cancer X None - royalty (Novartis) # # # Contact Information Vernalis plc Tel: +44 (0) 118 977 3133 Tony Weir, Chief Financial Officer Brunswick Group (Vernalis inquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 Jon ColesJustine McIllroyAlex Tweed Paul Capital Healthcare Tel: +44 (0) 20 7514 0754 Ken Macleod, Partner Lazar Partners (Paul Capital Healthcare Inquiries) Tel: +1-646-871-8487 Stephanie Seiler Tel: +1-206-713-0124 Email:[email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Vernalis PLC