NPS sells Regpara royalties to DRI Capital for $38.4mm

NPS Pharmaceuticals (therapeutics for gastrointestinal and endocrine disorders) has sold some of its royalty rights pertaining to the hyperparathyroidism drug Regpara (cinacalcet; sold as Sensipar in the US and Mimpara in Europe) to a fund managed by DRI Capital for $38.4mm. NPS retains royalties in excess of $96mm or 2.5 times the up-front purchase price. DRI will receive royalty payments from sales occurring on or after July 1, 2009. NPS plans to use the money for Phase III registration studies of its two lead candidates--Gattex (teduglutide) for short bowel syndrome and NPSP558 for hypoparathyroidism. Since 1995, Kyowa Hakko Kirin has had rights to develop and commercialize Regpara in China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan; the company launched the drug in Japan in 2008. In 1996, NPS licensed Amgen rights to cinacalcet in the rest of the world.