Depomed, PDL BioPharma deal

Depomed sold the royalty streams from its Type II diabetes products to PDL for $240.5 million in cash. The deal covers royalties and milestones from Santarus Inc. (NASDAQ:SNTS, San Diego, Calif.) for Glumetza extended-release metformin tablets and Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK, Whitehouse Station, N.J.) for Janumet XR sitagliptin/metformin extended-release tablets. Both use Depomed's Acuform gastric retentive drug delivery technology. PDL now is eligible to receive from Santarus royalties of 32% in 2013-14 and 34.5% in 2015 and beyond from an expanded 2008 deal granting Santarus U.S. commercialization rights to Glumetza. Santarus reported $85.9 million in Glumetza sales for the six months ended June 30. PDL is eligible to receive from Merck a "very low single digit royalty" from an expanded 2009 deal granting the pharma non-exclusive, worldwide rights to Depomed's patents covering metformin extended-release technology for use in Janumet XR. Merck reported $883 million in Janumet sales for the six months ended June 30. PDL will also receive royalties for sales of extended-release metformin in Korea from LG Life Sciences Ltd. (KSE:068870, Seoul, South Korea) and in Canada from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (TSX:VRX; NYSE:VRX, Montreal, Quebec) (see BioCentury, Aug. 29, 2011 & Sept. 16, 2013). ...