Return To Medigene monetizes eligard royalty for usd 17 68 million

Medigene Monetizes Eligard® Royalty for USD 17.68 Million

  • Medigene transfers 2% Eligard® royalty to US-based investor HealthCare Royalty Partners
  • Medigene’s cash position increases by USD 17.68 million
  • 2012 guidance for revenue and EBITDA remains unchanged

Martinsried/Munich, June 7, 2012. The biotech company Medigene AG (Frankfurt: MDG, Prime Standard) today announced that it has transferred its two percent (2%) royalty share of Eligard® European net sales to US-based investor, HealthCare Royalty Partners II, L.P. (“HC Royalty”),for a cash payment of USD 17.68 million (appr. EUR 14.1 million). Medigene plans to invest these proceeds in further strengthening the company’s pipeline.

Arnd Christ, CFO of Medigene, comments, “With the monetization of the Eligard® royalty to this high quality investor, we continue to systematically deliver on our strategy of increasing the company’s financial capabilities, optimizing our cost structure, and strengthening the pipeline. Importantly, this transaction significantly improves our financial flexibility without diluting our current shareholders’ interests. We are very well positioned for future growth and are going to invest in the further strengthening of our pipeline.”

According to IFRS guidelines, Medigene will account for the proceeds of this transaction as a financial liability. The related income will be recognized pro rata over the period of the Eligard® patent term of approximately 10 years. Therefore, Medigene’s revenue and EBITDA guidance for 2012 remains unchanged.

“We have followed the progress of this product over the past several years and it has consistently outperformed our expectations,” commented Gregory B. Brown, Managing Director at HC Royalty. “We believe it will continue to experience strong growth globally.”

In 2010, Medigene monetized a portion of their royalty rights to Eligard®, a hormone compound for the treatment of advanced, hormone-dependent prostate cancer, to the company’s marketing partner, Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., for EUR 25 million and retained ongoing royalties amounting to two percent of Eligard® net sales.

About HealthCare Royalty Partners: Founded in 2007, HealthCare Royalty Partners is a global healthcare investment firm with over USD 1.5 billion of capital under management. The Firm specializes in structured financing solutions for the life sciences industry. For more information, visit www.healthcareroyalty.com.

About Medigene: Medigene AG is a publicly listed (Frankfurt: MDG, prime standard) biotechnology company headquartered in Martinsried/Munich, Germany. Medigene focuses on clinical research and development of novel drugs against cancer and autoimmune diseases. Medigene is the first German biotech company to have revenues from marketed products, which are distributed by partner companies. It has two drug candidates in clinical trials and is developing an innovative vaccine technology. For further details, please visit www.medigene.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements representing the opinion of Medigene as of the date of this release. The actual results achieved by Medigene may differ significantly from the forward-looking statements made herein. Medigene is not bound to update any of these forward-looking statements. Medigene® is a registered trademark of Medigene AG. Eligard® is a trademark of Tolmar Therapeutics, Inc. These trademarks may be owned or licensed in select locations only.

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