EUSA Pharma announces acquisition of global rights to SYLVANT® (siltuximab) from Janssen Sciences Ireland UC for $115 million

EUSA Pharma (EUSA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and rare disease, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Janssen Sciences Ireland UC, a subsidiary of Janssen R&D Ireland (Janssen) to acquire the global rights to SYLVANT® (siltuximab) for $115 million in cash. The transaction is subject to review under the United States Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, and the parties expect to close following completion of this regulatory review period and the mutual satisfaction of other remaining closing conditions.

SYLVANT® is approved in more than 40 countries worldwide, including the United States, the European Union, the Republic of Korea and Canada, for the treatment of idiopathic multicentric Castleman’s disease (iMCD), a rare, life threatening and debilitating orphan condition. Idiopathic MCD is an inflammatory lymphoproliferative disorder, which causes the abnormal overgrowth of immune cells and shares many symptomatic and histological features with lymphoma.1 The disease can affect individuals at any age, with iMCD representing one-third to half of all multicentric Castleman’s disease (MCD).2

“iMCD is a devastating disorder with few treatment options for patients, because the underlying mechanisms are so poorly understood,” said David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, Assistant Professor of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, and Associate Director, Patient Impact, Orphan Disease Center, at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

SYLVANT® is the only approved treatment for iMCD in the United States and Europe. It  first received approval in the United States in 2014, with subsequent approvals occurring in a number of countries thereafter. Since then, SYLVANT® has achieved rapid revenue growth.

The approval of SYLVANT® was based on the MCD2001 study (NCT01024036); an international, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial including 79 subjects. More than one-third of subjects in the SYLVANT® arm had a durable tumour and symptomatic response to treatment plus best supportive care (BSC), compared to none of the subjects who received placebo plus BSC (34% versus 0% according to stringent criteria; 95% CI: 11.1, 54.8; p=0.0012).3

“The acquisition of SYLVANT® represents a significant opportunity for EUSA Pharma. As the only approved treatment for this orphan condition, SYLVANT® highlights the importance of ongoing research and development in areas where there are few patients yet high unmet medical needs”, said Lee Morley, EUSA Pharma’s Chief Executive Officer. “Following the recent divestment of our critical care portfolio, EUSA Pharma has transformed into a rapidly growing biopharmaceutical company focused solely on oncology