XOMA Expands its Commercial Royalty & Milestone Portfolio With DSUVIA Acquisition

XOMA Corporation recently announced it has acquired an economic interest in DSUVIA (sufentanil sublingual tablet) from Talphera, Inc., for $8 million. DSUVIA was approved in 2018 by the US FDA for use in adults in certified medically supervised healthcare settings. In April 2023, Talphera divested DSUVIA to Alora Pharmaceuticals for an upfront payment, a 15% royalty on commercial net sales, a 75% royalty on net sales to the US Department of Defense (DoD), and up to $116.5 million in milestone payments.

“The Talphera transaction is consistent with XOMA’s business model of acquiring royalty economics that we believe offer attractive and asymmetric risk/reward profiles. DSUVIA is an important sublingual, single-use pain management option addressing moderate-to-severe acute pain when used in actively supervised medical settings.  We believe Alora has the resources and expertise to relaunch and successfully commercialize DSUVIA within its expansive pain management portfolio,” said Brad Sitko, Chief Investment Officer at XOMA. “XOMA was able to structure an attractive, non-dilutive royalty solution as an alternative to traditional financing as Talphera repositions its strategy for future growth.”

In April 2020, DSUVIA received Milestone C approval from the US Department of Defense (DoD) for use in US Army sets, kits, and outfits (SKOs) and was added to the DoD Joint Deployment Formulary in September 2020.  Given the convenient sublingual delivery via a single dose applicator and its ability to provide effective pain relief for several hours, DSUVIA could be an effective tool for use by military medics to treat injured personnel in contested environments.

Under the terms of the agreement, XOMA will receive 100% of all royalties and milestones related to DSUVIA sales until the company receives $20 million. Thereafter, XOMA fully retains the 15% royalty associated with DSUVIA commercial sales, and the 75% royalties generated from DoD purchases will be shared equally between XOMA and Talphera, as will the remaining $116.5 million in potential milestone payments due from Alora Pharmaceuticals.

DSUVIA is indicated for use in adults in certified medically supervised healthcare settings, such as hospitals, surgical centers, and emergency departments, for the management of acute pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic and for which alternative treatments are inadequate. DSUVIA was designed to provide rapid analgesia via a non-invasive route and to eliminate dosing errors associated with intravenous (IV) administration. DSUVIA is a single-strength solid dosage form administered sublingually via a single-dose applicator (SDA) by healthcare professionals. Sufentanil is an opioid analgesic previously only marketed for IV and epidural anesthesia and analgesia. The sufentanil pharmacokinetic profile, when delivered sublingually, avoids the high peak plasma levels and short duration of action observed with IV administration. For more information, including important safety information and black box warning for DSUVIA, visit www.DSUVIA.com.

XOMA is a biotechnology royalty aggregator playing a distinctive role in helping biotech companies achieve their goal of improving human health.  XOMA acquires the potential future economics associated with pre-commercial therapeutic candidates that have been licensed to pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. When XOMA acquires the future economics, the seller receives non-dilutive, non-recourse funding they can use to advance their internal drug candidate(s) or for general corporate purposes.  The company has an extensive and growing portfolio with more than 70 assets (asset defined as the right to receive potential future economics associated with the advancement of an underlying therapeutic candidate). For more information, visit www.xoma.com.