Ascendis Pharma and Royalty Pharma enter into $150M royalty funding pact

Ascendis Pharma (ASND) and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) announced that Ascendis has entered into a $150M capped synthetic royalty funding agreement with Royalty Pharma based on U.S. net SKYTROFA revenue. “This transaction reflects the significant value of SKYTROFA. We are pleased to partner with Royalty Pharma, a leading funder of innovation across the biopharma industry, and look forward to partnering with them in the coming years,” said Jan Mikkelsen, Ascendis Pharma’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With this funding, we continue to reduce our cost of capital and provide added flexibility to support our global commercial capabilities to bring our TransCon products to patients as fast as possible.” “We are excited to partner with Ascendis, a global, integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on endocrine rare disease and oncology,” said Pablo Legorreta, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Royalty Pharma. “SKYTROFA, as the first U.S. approved weekly growth hormone therapy for pediatrics, addresses significant unmet patient need, which is underscored by its strong launch. We look forward to Ascendis’ continued success in reaching as many patients as possible with this important therapy as well as the potential for label expansion in additional indications.” Under the terms of the agreement, Ascendis Pharma receives an upfront payment of $150M in exchange for a 9.15% royalty on U.S. net SKYTROFA revenue, beginning on January 1, 2025. The royalty payments to Royalty Pharma will cease upon reaching a multiple of 1.925x, or 1.65x if Royalty Pharma receives royalties in that amount by December 31.