Vertex Selling Telaprevir Payment Rights

Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:VRTX]]) revealed today its plans to raise cash through the sale of rights to $250 million in milestone payments it could receive for successfully developing and launching its experimental hepatitis C treatment, telaprevir, in Europe, according to a press release. No buyer of the rights was announced. Vertex gained rights to the payments through its 2006 collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutica, a unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:[[ticker:JNJ]]), which agreed to pay Vertex $100 million if telaprevir garners European approval and $150 million upon the launch of the drug in Europe in exchange for European marketing rights. Here is a story from the In Vivo Blog with some insights about why selling rights to these milestone payments may make sense for Vertex.

Author: Ryan McBride

Ryan is an award-winning business journalist who contributes to our life sciences and technology coverage. He was previously a staff writer for Mass High Tech, a Boston business and technology newspaper, where he and his colleagues won a national business journalism award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 2008. In recent years, he has made regular TV appearances on New England Cable News. Prior to MHT, Ryan covered the life sciences, technology, and energy sectors for Providence Business News. He graduated with honors from the University of Rhode Island in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. When he’s not chasing down news, Ryan enjoys mountain biking and skiing in his home state of Vermont.