Sagard Healthcare, HealthCare Royalty to buy royalty interest in Hemgenix

• UniQure will sell a portion of the royalty rights due to it from CSL Behring from the net sales of Hemgenix
• The gross purchase price is up to $400 million in cash
• UniQure is an Amsterdam-based gene therapy company

Sagard Healthcare and HealthCare Royalty Partners (HCRx) have agreed to buy a royalty interest in Hemgenix from uniQure, an Amsterdam-based gene therapy company.

UniQure will sell a portion of the royalty rights due to it from CSL Behring from the net sales of Hemgenix, a gene therapy that reduces the rate of abnormal bleeding in people with haemophilia B. The gross purchase price is up to $400 million in cash.

The deal is expected to close no later than 15 business days from signing.

UniQure will receive an upfront cash payment of $375 million in exchange for the lowest royalty tier on CSL Behring’s net sales of Hemgenix, up to 1.85 times the purchase price until 30 June 2032 or, if such a cap is not met by 30 June 2032, then up to 2.25x the purchase price through 31 December 2038.

UniQure is eligible to receive an additional $25 million milestone payment if 2024 net sales of Hemgenix exceed a pre-specified threshold.

UniQure will retain the rights to all other royalties under its existing commercialisation and license agreement with CSL Behring.

“Sagard is excited to complete this transaction and support uniQure with its mission to develop one-time, transformative gene therapies for patients in need,“ said David MacNaughtan, partner and head of Sagard Healthcare, in a statement. “Sagard’s investment reflects our confidence in the commercial prospects of Hemgenix which is marketed by CSL Behring.”

Sagard Healthcare is Sagard’s biopharmaceutical royalties investment strategy, investing in royalties and credit backed by approved and commercial biopharmaceutical products, diagnostics and medical devices.

Based in Montreal, Quebec, Sagard is a multi-strategy alternative investment asset management firm with more than $13 billion under management.

HCRx is a royalty acquisition company focused on commercial or near-commercial stage biopharmaceutical products. The company has $6.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments and is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Moelis & Company acted as financial advisor to uniQure in this transaction and Ropes & Gray acted as legal advisor. HCRx was represented in the transaction by Sidley Austin. Sagard was represented in the transaction by Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo.