Royalty Pharma, Zenas BioPharma enter into obexelimab funding agreement

Royalty Pharma (RPRX) and Zenas BioPharma (ZBIO) announced that Royalty Pharma will provide up to $300M in funding in exchange for a royalty on sales of obexelimab. Obexelimab is an investigational bifunctional monoclonal antibody designed to inhibit B cell function by binding to both CD19 and FcgammaRIIb and is in Phase 3 development for the treatment of Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease, and Phase 2 development for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. This financing will support obexelimab development and a potential IgG4-RD commercial launch in the first half of 2027, subject to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Under the agreement Zenas will receive up to $300M consisting of an upfront payment of $75M and three additional payments of $75M each upon achievement of defined success criteria in the Phase 3 INDIGO trial of obexelimab in IgG4-RD, U.S. FDA approval of obexelimab for IgG4-RD, and U.S. FDA approval of obexelimab for SLE. In exchange, Royalty Pharma will receive a 5.5% royalty on worldwide net sales of obexelimab by Zenas and its affiliates and certain other payments associated with the commercialization of obexelimab in partnered geographies.