| | Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma and OPKO Health Enter into Agreement for OPKO’s RAYALDEE® - Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma obtains rights to commercialize RAYALDEE® in Europe, Canada and certain other international markets - OPKO to receive up to USD 282 million in upfront and milestone payments, plus tiered double-digit royalties - OPKO and Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma to jointly develop RAYALDEE® for dialysis patients St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Miami, FL – Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (VFMCRP), a common company of Galenica and Fresenius Medical Care, and OPKO Health (NYSE: OPK), have entered into a collaboration and license agreement for the development and commercialization of RAYALDEE® in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, South Korea and certain other international markets for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and vitamin D insufficiency. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will also collaborate to develop and commercialize RAYALDEE® for the treatment of SHPT in dialysis patients, and OPKO has granted VFMCRP an option to acquire rights to the US market for treatment of dialysis patients. “Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma is a leader in chronic kidney disease and we believe they are the ideal partner to bring RAYALDEE® to patients across Europe and other territories,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OPKO. “We believe further developing RAYALDEE® for dialysis patients is an important additional step in the care of chronic kidney disease patients,” Dr. Frost continued. “Managing bone and mineral disorders in CKD patients remains a challenge for physicians despite the treatment options already available to them. The clinical data for RAYALDEE® show promising safety and efficacy and we strongly believe that once approved, RAYALDEE® will become a cornerstone therapy to better address this key co-morbidity and improve the well-being of chronic kidney disease patients,” said Stefan Schulze, Chief Executive Officer of VFMCRP. SHPT is a common disorder in CKD patients triggered by vitamin D insufficiency, which can cause reduced vitamin D hormone production, decreased intestinal absorption of dietary calcium, increased secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH), and metabolic bone disease. Using current treatment options, most patients underachieve control of both vitamin D insufficiency and SHPT, leading to a range of bone and mineral disorders. RAYALDEE® is an oral vitamin D prohormone treatment in a modified release capsule being developed by OPKO. VFMCRP has entered into an exclusive license agreement with OPKO to co-develop and commercialize RAYALDEE® in leading markets around the world, including Europe (except Russia), Canada, Mexico, Australia and South Korea. OPKO retains all rights in the US, Latin America (excluding Mexico), Russia, China, Taiwan and Japan. The two companies will also collaborate to prepare the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) submission to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). |