LEIDEN, The Netherlands,
November 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Biotech company Pharming Group NV
("Pharming" or "the Company") (EURONEXT: PHARM), today announced
the receipt of a US$20 million
milestone payment from Salix Pharmaceuticals ("Salix"). The
milestone was paid according to the terms and conditions of the
Ruconest® commercialization agreement between Salix and Pharming.
Sijmen de Vries, Pharming CEO, commented, "The US launch of
Ruconest®, as announced yesterday, and the receipt of the
US$20 million milestone from Salix,
mark what we perceive as the beginning of a new era for Pharming.
The receipt of this milestone payment strengthens our debt-free
balance sheet to more than €38 million as of today. From this solid
basis, as result of future receipts of 30% of US net sales, up to
$100 million annual sales, increasing
stepwise up to 40% for annual US sales in excess of US$100 million for the supply of Ruconest® to
Salix and in addition growing revenues from EU sales, both from our
own direct commercialization and by Sobi, we are now aiming for our
goal of achieving financial sustainability of the Company.
About Pharming Group NV:
Pharming Group NV is developing innovative products for the
treatment of unmet medical needs. Ruconest® (conestat
alfa) is a recombinant human C1 esterase inhibitor approved for the
treatment of angioedema attacks in patients with HAE in the
USA, Israel, all 27 EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Ruconest is commercialized by
Pharming in Austria, Germany and Netherlands. Ruconest is distributed by
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) (SS: SOBI) in the other EU
countries and in Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.
Ruconest is partnered with Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:
SLXP) in North America.
Ruconest is also being investigated in a randomized Phase II
clinical trial for prophylaxis of HAE and evaluated for various
additional follow-on indications. Pharming has a unique GMP
compliant, validated platform for the production of recombinant
human proteins that has proven capable of producing industrial
volumes of high quality recombinant human protein in a more
economical way compared to current cell based technologies. Leads
for enzyme replacement therapy in Pompe's, Fabry's and Gaucher's
diseases are under early evaluation. The platform is partnered with
Shanghai Institute for Pharmaceutical Industry (SIPI), a Sinopharm
Company, for joint global development of new products. Pre-
clinical development and manufacturing will take place at SIPI and
are funded by SIPI. Pharming and SIPI initially plan to utilize
this platform for the development of rh-FVIII for the treatment of
Haemophilia-A. Additional information is available on the Pharming
website; http://www.pharming.com .
This press release contains forward looking statements that
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors,
which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from the
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these
forward looking statements.
Contact
Sijmen de Vries, CEO: T: +31-71-524-7400
FTI Consulting
Julia Phillips / Victoria Foster Mitchell, T:
+44-203-727-1136
PRN NLD
