Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) on Wednesday entered into a $100 million funding agreement with Zealand Pharma in exchange for economic rights related to Zealand’s product, Rusfertide (PTG-300).

This strategic move is expected to bolster Royalty Pharma’s portfolio and enhance its revenue streams.

The U.S. FDA has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for the New Drug Application for rusfertide for polycythemia vera in the third quarter of 2026.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (NYSE:TAK) will be responsible for global commercialization.

Royalty Pharma will pay Zealand Pharma $100 million for economic interests tied to rusfertide, including a 1% royalty on potential future global net sales and regulatory and commercial milestones.

Zealand Pharma will receive $50 million at closing and another $50 million on the first anniversary of the agreement.

The company will retain a 0.25% royalty on annual global net sales above $1.5 billion, while Royalty Pharma will receive a 0.75% royalty on sales exceeding that threshold.

Prior Rusfertide Collaboration

Zealand Pharma and Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) entered a research collaboration in June 2012 to develop disulfide-rich peptides.

Zealand Pharma handled preclinical and clinical development of compounds discovered through the collaboration.

The collaboration ended in 2014, with Protagonist’s payment obligations to Zealand Pharma clarified under a 2021 settlement agreement.

In January 2024, Protagonist and Takeda entered into a worldwide license and collaboration agreement for rusfertide.

In July, Royalty Pharma acquired a portion of Neurimmune’s royalty interest in AstraZeneca plc’s (NYSE:AZN) cliramitug for up to $425 million.

Cliramitug is a Phase 3 TTR-fibril-depleting antibody designed to remove amyloid deposits in patients with TTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy.

Cliramitug is currently in the Phase 3 DepleTTR-CM trial with results expected in 2028.

RPRX Technical Outlook: Trend Vs Key Moving Averages

• The stock is currently trading at $59.37, which is 1.3% above its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) of $58.32 and 4.1% above its 50-day SMA of $56.76.
• The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) is below its signal line.

RPRX Stock Price Activity: Royalty Pharma shares were up 0.25% at $59.37 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo by Piotr Swat via Shutterstock