Idorsia Ltd has revealed entering into confidential talks with an unidentified party to potentially secure global rights to aprocitentan. As part of this negotiation, Idorsia will receive an exclusivity payment of $35 million, extending its financial runway until 2025. The pending deal might include an upfront payment, further milestone payments, and scaled royalties on sales, in exchange for transferring global rights to aprocitentan and certain Idorsia employees.
André C. Muller, CEO of Idorsia, expressed, “I’m excited to announce our strategic move towards finalizing a potential deal for global rights to aprocitentan. We aim to ink the agreement by the end of 2024 and conclude it in early 2025, with more details to follow if a conclusive agreement is reached. This marks a critical step in ensuring Idorsia’s financial sustainability as we head toward profitability.”
André added, “Additionally, we’re rolling out measures including cost management and restructuring to handle our existing debt. I’m optimistic about the viability of our plan in the coming months, paving the way for us to rechannel our focus to product development. Our goal remains to moderate ambitions and carefully handle investments until our revenue from in-house and partner-supported products underpins our operations.”
Achieving financial stability requires the company to streamline its focus, culling the number of active R&D projects and paving the way for some to be out-licensed. Consequently, a workforce reduction could be considered, potentially affecting roughly 270 global positions, mainly within R&D and headquarters support roles. Idorsia’s primary global functions will remain based in Allschwil, Switzerland, as efforts are made to minimize redundancies through natural attrition, retirements, transfers alongside aprocitentan, and other strategies. As the talks around aprocitentan continue, the company is actively seeking ways to alleviate social repercussions. Should a definitive agreement emerge, some team members may have the option to contribute further to aprocitentan’s success. Following the consultation process, Idorsia plans to finish the restructuring by late 2024, with cost-saving measures fully realized by the second quarter of 2025.
Aprocitentan is Idorsia’s orally administered, dual endothelin receptor antagonist taken once daily, which blocks ET-1 from binding to ETA and ETB receptors. On March 19, 2024, the product received approval as Tryvio in the US, and by June 27, 2024, the European Commission had authorized it as Jeraygo.
Idorsia Ltd remains committed to innovation, identifying opportunities, and enhancing patient care.