EyePoint Pharmaceuticals Announces $16.5 Million Monetization of ILUVIEN® Royalty with SWK Holdings Corporation
WATERTOWN, Mass., Dec. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYPT), a pharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics to help improve the lives of patients with serious eye disorders, today announced a royalty monetization agreement with SWK Holdings Corporation (SWK) for royalties payable to EyePoint under its license agreement with Alimera Sciences, Inc. (Alimera) for ILUVIEN®. EyePoint has received a one-time $16.5 million payment from SWK and, in return, SWK is entitled to receive future royalties payable to EyePoint from the Alimera agreement.
EyePoint has applied $15 million of net proceeds from the transaction against existing long-term debt obligations with CRG Servicing LLC (CRG). The remaining $1.5 million will be used to advance product pipeline programs. The transaction will also result in a reduction of annual interest payments of approximately $1.7 million.
“This transaction with SWK allows EyePoint to reduce existing debt and interest obligations and improve our balance sheet as we focus on advancing our ocular disease pipeline, including EYP-1901 for wet age-related macular degeneration,” said George Elston, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals. “We remain focused on managing our burn rate and preserving cash to reach important clinical and commercial milestones in 2021 and this transaction will help to achieve these goals.”
“We are pleased to be part of EyePoint’s corporate strategy with this non-dilutive capital as the Company continues to develop long lasting, sustained and stable therapies using its Durasert® technology to help improve the lives of patients,” said Winston Black, CEO of SWK Holdings Corporation. “The technologies EyePoint has developed are emblematic of the life science innovations in which SWK seeks to invest. Benefitting from Durasert’s continuous microdosing technology, products such as ILUVIEN and YUTIQ® are important treatment options for patients with diabetic macular edema and posterior segment uveitis.”
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.
About EyePoint Pharmaceuticals
EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:EYPT)) is a pharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics to help improve the lives of patients with serious eye disorders. The Company has two commercial products: YUTIQ®, for the treatment of chronic non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye, and DEXYCU®, for the treatment of postoperative inflammation following ocular surgery. The Company's pipeline leverages its proprietary bioerodible Durasert® technology for extended intraocular drug delivery including EYP-1901, a potential six-month sustained delivery intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment initially targeting wet age-related macular degeneration. EyePoint Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts. To learn more about the Company, please visit www.eyepointpharma.com and connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENTS UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION ACT OF 1995: Various statements made in this release are forward-looking, and are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and potentially inaccurate assumptions. All statements that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect, plan or believe may occur in the future, including but not limited to statements about our expectations regarding the extent to which our business could be adversely impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as the timing and clinical development of our product candidates, including EYP-1901; and the potential for EYP-1901 as a vital, novel six-month treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed, anticipated or implied in our forward-looking statements are risks and uncertainties inherent in our business including, without limitation: the extent to which COVID-19 impacts our business; the effectiveness and timeliness of clinical trials, and the usefulness of the data; the timeliness of regulatory approvals; our ability to achieve profitable operations and access to needed capital; fluctuations in our operating results; our ability to successfully produce sufficient commercial quantities of YUTIQ and DEXYCU and to successfully commercialize YUTIQ and DEXYCU in the U.S.; our ability to sustain and enhance an effective commercial infrastructure and enter into and maintain commercial agreements for YUTIQ and DEXYCU; the development of our YUTIQ line extension shorter-duration treatment for non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye; potential off-label sales of ILUVIEN for non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye; consequences of fluocinolone acetonide side effects for YUTIQ; consequences of dexamethasone side effects for DEXYCU; successful commercialization of, and receipt of revenues from, ILUVIEN for diabetic macular edema, or DME; Alimera’s ability to obtain additional marketing approvals and the effect of pricing and reimbursement decisions on sales of ILUVIEN for DME; Alimera’s ability to commercialize ILUVIEN for non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye in the territories in which Alimera is licensed to do so; our ability to market and sell products; the success of current and future license agreements, including our agreement with Equinox Science; termination or breach of current license agreements, including our agreement with Equinox Science; our dependence on contract research organizations, contract sales organizations, vendors and investigators; effects of competition and other developments affecting sales of products; market acceptance of products; effects of guidelines, recommendations and studies; protection of intellectual property and avoiding intellectual property infringement; retention of key personnel; product liability; industry consolidation; compliance with environmental laws; manufacturing risks; risks and costs of international business operations; volatility of stock price; possible dilution; absence of dividends; and other factors described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We cannot guarantee that the results and other expectations expressed, anticipated or implied in any forward-looking statement will be realized. A variety of factors, including these risks, could cause our actual results and other expectations to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed, anticipated or implied in our forward-looking statements. Should known or unknown risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could differ materially from past results and those anticipated, estimated or projected in the forward-looking statements. You should bear this in mind as you consider any forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the dates on which they are made. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes makes it clear that any projected results expressed or implied in such statements will not be realized.
Contacts
Investors:
Argot Partners
Sam Martin or Joe Rayne
212-600-1902
eyepoint@argotpartners.com
Media:
Thomas Gibson
201-476-0322
tom@tomgibsoncommunications.com
