Regenera Drug Makes Eye Contact With Us

The Age

Friday April 8, 2005

REBECCA URBAN

DRUG developer Regenera will start receiving royalty income from next year after signing a licensing deal worth up to $US140 million ($A183 million) with a leading US ophthalmology company.

The Perth-based company has closed months of talks by licensing its cortico-steroid drug for use in eye surgery to Alcon Manufacturing, an affiliate of the $27 billion Alcon Inc.

The deal gives Alcon an exclusive global licence to make, market and distribute Regenera's drug as a device to give surgeons more visibility during vitrectomy surgery. Regenera will receive an undisclosed licensing fee, milestone payments and 10 per cent-plus royalties on US sales.

Regenera has doubled its share price since it revealed in September that it was close to signing a commercial partner.

But the shares dipped 2 ? to 82 ? after the announcement. Analysts said the fall could be due to the deal triggering the exercising of a tranche of performance options, which could dilute the value of existing holdings. The shares had been halted from trading for two days.

One analyst said royalties hinged on surgeons' uptake of a non-essential therapy. But chief executive Dr William Ardrey was confident of strong uptake, as Alcon had a huge market share for vitreous and retinal surgery.

© 2005 The Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home