NEW YORK, April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Children’s Hospital Foundation, the parent company of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia(R), and Royalty Pharma announced today that the Foundation has sold its worldwide royalty interest in respect of sales of RotaTeq(R) from and after October 1, 2007, to Royalty Pharma for $182 million in cash.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061026/RPLOGO )
“With the addition of this royalty on RotaTeq(R), we further our strategy of building a highly diversified portfolio of royalty interests on leading biopharmaceutical products. We are pleased to add the first vaccine to complement our royalties on products that treat a wide range of diseases, including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune disorders, AIDS/HIV and neuropathic pain,” said Pablo Legorreta, Chief Executive Officer of Royalty Pharma. “More important, we are partnering with the world’s best research hospitals, universities and biopharmaceutical companies, and providing them with critical sources of financing that they can employ in further research and development endeavors. This will result, hopefully, in continued innovation and therapeutic alternatives for patients.”
“CHOP will use this money in the continual pursuit of advancing science to benefit children,” said Steven M. Altschuler, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia(R).
RotaTeq(R) is a live, oral pentavalent vaccine indicated for the prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis. RotaTeq(R) was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in February 2006, has been approved in 70 other countries and has launched in 42 of these countries. It is marketed by Merck & Co. Inc. RotaTeq(R) was created as a result of research jointly performed by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia(R) and The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
Morgan Stanley is acting as structuring advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP is acting as the legal advisor to The Children’s Hospital Foundation for this sale. Goodwin Procter LLP is acting as legal advisor and Baker Botts L.L.P. is acting as intellectual property counsel to Royalty Pharma for this sale.
About The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia(R)
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia(R) was founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children’s Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents.
For more information, go to: www.chop.edu.
About Royalty Pharma
Royalty Pharma is the industry leader in acquiring revenue-producing intellectual property -- principally royalty interests in marketed and late stage biopharmaceutical products with approximately $5 billion in assets. Royalty Pharma currently owns a diversified portfolio of royalty interests in several high-quality blockbuster biopharmaceutical products, including Abbott’s Humira(R), J&J/Centocor’s Remicade(R), Pfizer’s Lyrica(R), Amgen’s Neupogen(R) and Neulasta(R), Genentech’s Rituxan(R), Gilead’s Emtriva(R), Truvada(R) and Atripla(R), and Celgene’s Thalomid(R).
The company has an eleven year history of providing value to holders of royalty interests, including its $700 million purchase of the Lyrica(R) royalty from Northwestern University, its $650 million purchase of the Remicade(R) royalty from New York University, its $700 million purchase of the Humira(R) royalty from AstraZeneca plc following its acquisition of Cambridge Antibody Technology, its joint $525 million acquisition with Gilead Sciences of Emory University’s emtricitabine royalty interest and its acquisitions of approximately 80% of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s U.S. and international royalty interests in Neupogen(R) and Neulasta(R) for over $400 million.
CONTACT: Peggy Flynn, Director of Media Relations, The Children’s Hospital
Foundation, +1-267-426-6080; or Pablo Legorreta, Chief Executive Officer,
or Susannah Gray, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, or
Alexander Kwit, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, or Mike
Herman, Senior Vice President, Investments, all of Royalty Pharma,
+1-212-883-0200
Web site: http://www.royaltypharma.com/
http://www.chop.edu/
