Esperion Therapeutics Inc. in Ann Arbor and Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH, the Germany-headquartered organization of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., have reached a $125 million agreement in their collaboration, which includes the resolution to their commercial dispute.
DSE has agreed to pay Esperion $100 million in mid-January ahead of an anticipated Type II(a) variation approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for NILEMDO (bempedoic acid) Tablet and NUSTENDI (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) Tablet.
DSE will make an additional $25 million payment to Esperion in the calendar quarter immediately following EMA’s decision on the pending application. The legal action pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York will be dismissed.
The parties also agreed, as part of the resolution:
- For Esperion to transition to DSE manufacturing and supply responsibilities in Europe and other territories, resulting in significant cost savings and efficiencies for both companies.
- To expand their collaboration in Europe and other territories, to include the potential development and commercialization of a triple formulation product comprising bempedoic acid, ezetimibe, and a statin, which could represent significant long-term value for the collaboration.
- For DSE to now lead all regulatory communications with the EMA regarding the pending applications.
“We are pleased that this settlement creates value for Esperion today through cash payments and includes additional terms that will continue creating value for both companies going forward. Importantly, today’s settlement allows Esperion and DSE to focus on the business at hand – delivering life-saving drug therapies to millions with high cholesterol,” says Sheldon Koenig, president and CEO of Esperion. “Together, we are committed to making bempedoic acid a blockbuster franchise worldwide, based on the differentiating profiles of our products.”
Since 2019, Esperion and DSE have worked together to bring bempedoic acid to patients and unlock its potential for cardiovascular risk reduction. The partnership continues to grow, with DSE recently gaining approvals for bempedoic acid in the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Spain.
“This is a positive resolution for patients,” says Oliver Appelhans, head of the specialty business unit of Daiichi Sankyo Europe. “We look forward to continuing to apply our combined strengths around the world to bring innovative pharmaceutical products to patients with cardiovascular disease, the greatest cause of death and disability globally.”
