Isis acquires control of Elan jvs
Isis Pharmaceuticals has acquired Elan's minority interest in Orasense and HepaSense, joint ventures arising out of prior collaborations between Isis and Elan.
Isis Pharmaceuticals has acquired Elan's minority interest in Orasense and HepaSense, joint ventures arising out of prior collaborations between Isis and Elan.
Through this acquisition, Isis has eliminated all future royalties to Elan related to the oral delivery platform developed within the Orasense collaboration and to ISIS 14803, Isis' antisense drug for the treatment of the hepatitis C virus, which is currently in Phase II clinical trials and was the focus of the HepaSense collaboration. Elan's participation in these collaborations concluded in January 2003 and November 2002, respectively.
'We are extremely pleased to have completed this transaction as it allows us to recognise the full financial potential of our oral delivery platform and our proprietary drug to treat hepatitis C. In addition, it simplifies our capital structure and eliminates dividend accretion of approximately $1.2m between now and maturity in 2006,' said Lynne Parshall, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Isis. 'This is the latest achievement in our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our financial position and streamline our balance sheet. As a result of these efforts over the past two years, we have retired more than $125m in high interest debt, eliminated a significant amount in future interest payments and reduced total potential dilution of our common stock by 2.2m shares.'