Ariad Pharmaceuticals has completed the sale of its European operations to Incyte Corporation and entered into a previously announced license agreement for Incyte to exclusively license Iclusig (ponatinib) in Europe and other select countries.

Iclusig is a kinase inhibitor. The primary target for Iclusig is BCR-ABL, an abnormal tyrosine kinase that is expressed in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL). Iclusig was designed using Ariad’s computational and structure-based drug-design platform specifically to inhibit the activity of BCR-ABL. Iclusig targets not only native BCR-ABL but also its isoforms that carry mutations that confer resistance to treatment, including the T315I mutation, which has been associated with resistance to other approved TKIs.

Iclusig is approved in the US, European Union (EU), Australia, Switzerland, Israel, and Canada.

Ariad transferred all rights to its EU operations to Incyte, which has acquired all shares of AriadPharmaceuticals (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., the parent company of Ariad’s European subsidiaries responsible for the commercialization of Iclusig in the licensed territory, for a payment to Ariad at the closing of approximately $140 million (subject to customary post-closing adjustments). In addition, Incyte has now been granted an exclusive license to develop and commercialize Iclusig in the EU and 22 other countries, including Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Israel, and Russia.

In connection with the closing of the Incyte transaction, the previously disclosed amendments to Ariad’s royalty financing agreement with PDL BioPharma, Inc. entered into on May 9, 2016, became effective. Ariad and PDL agreed to amend the agreement to, among other things, include net sales of Iclusig made by Incyte in the calculation of net sales under the PDL agreement and to restructure Ariad’s option to receive additional funding so that Ariad may require PDL to fund up to an additional $40 million (instead of the original $100 million) in July 2017, rather than between January and July 2016.

Source: Ariad Pharmaceuticals