Royalty Pharma Buys Imdelltra Royalties From BeOne for Up to $950 Million

Royalty Pharma agreed on Monday to purchase a royalty interest in Amgen’s small-cell lung-cancer therapy Imdelltra from BeOne Medicines for up to $950 million. The transaction calls for an immediate $885 million cash payment and a further $65 million within 12 months should BeOne exercise an option to sell the remainder of its royalty stream. The deal gives Royalty Pharma about 7% of Imdelltra’s global net sales outside China; the drug secured U.S. approval last year for patients whose disease has progressed after chemotherapy. BeOne Medicines, which discovered Imdelltra before licensing it to Amgen, said the proceeds will be used to bolster its balance sheet and advance its oncology pipeline. For Royalty Pharma, the acquisition adds another late-stage oncology asset to a portfolio that generated $3.1 billion in cash receipts last year, underscoring the firm’s strategy of buying stable, long-duration royalty streams. Separately, antibody-technology company OmniAb announced a $30 million private placement of about 21.3 million shares at $1.40 each, with Leerink Partners acting as sole placement agent. The financing, expected to close on Aug. 26, will fund general corporate purposes.