Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc on March 28 announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to divest Sunosi® (solriamfetol) to Axsome Therapeutics.
SUNOSI is a once-daily prescription medicine used to improve wakefulness in adults with excessive daytime sleepiness, which is a real medical condition, due to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or narcolepsy.
Under the terms of the agreement, Axsome will receive the rights to Sunosi in all of the existing territories available to Jazz. Jazz will receive attractive financial terms including an upfront payment of $53 million, a high single-digit royalty on Axsome’s U.S. net sales of Sunosi in current indications and a mid-single-digit royalty on Axsome’s U.S. net sales of Sunosi in future indications.
The divestiture of Sunosi to Axsome will enable Jazz to sharpen its focus on its highest strategic priorities designed to deliver sustainable growth and enhanced shareholder value. In assessing the positioning of Sunosi in the overall treatment landscape, Jazz determined Axsome would be well positioned to deliver access to this important medication and to maximize the value of Sunosi to Jazz through future growth. Sunosi’s consistent positive feedback from patients, HCPs and providers is underscored by its well-established and clinically meaningful efficacy. Importantly, Jazz and Axsome are committed to ensuring that patients receive uninterrupted access to Sunosi throughout the transition.
Wake-promoting agents are most often prescribed by psychiatrists, neurologists and general practitioners. Therefore, Jazz believes Axsome is well placed to leverage its commercial business, which will have highly complementary call points, to drive Sunosi as one of the lead products in their portfolio and ensure Sunosi can continue to reach those patients who may benefit from this important medicine.
Bruce Cozadd, chairman and CEO of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, said:
Through our development and launch of Sunosi, the Jazz team has laid the foundation for Axsome to continue supporting people who may benefit from this much-needed treatment. As a leader in sleep medicine and rare epilepsies, with a growing oncology franchise, Jazz remains committed to developing new, innovative therapies in neuroscience and oncology for patients and delivering on our recently announced Vision 2025.
Herriot Tabuteau, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Axsome Therapeutics, said:
We are impressed by the clinically meaningful efficacy, unique mechanism of action, positive patient and physician feedback and growth potential of Sunosi, and are excited by the excellent strategic fit with the Axsome portfolio. The addition of Sunosi will augment and accelerate our commercial preparedness ahead of the potential near-term launches of our two existing lead assets and allows us to fully leverage our first-in-class Digital Centric Commercialization™ platform with three complimentary assets.
