Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Royalty Pharma plc announced that Royalty Pharma has acquired an interest in Ionis' royalty in Biogen's SPINRAZA® (nusinersen) and Novartis' pelacarsen for up to $1.125 billion, including an upfront payment of $500 million and up to $625 million in additional pelacarsen milestone payments. SPINRAZA is the global foundation of care for the treatment of people living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Biogen licensed SPINRAZA from Ionis in 2016.

Pelacarsen is a potentially first-in-class treatment specifically targeting elevated lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), an independent, inherited, and causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Novartis licensed pelacarsen from Ionis in 2019. Under the terms of the monetization transaction, Royalty Pharma will receive: 25% of Ionis' SPINRAZA royalty payments through 2027, increasing to 45% of royalty payments in 2028, on up to $1.5 billion in annual sales.

Royalty Pharma's royalty interest in SPINRAZA will revert to Ionis after total SPINRAZA royalty payments reach either $475 million or $550 million, depending on the timing and occurrence of certain events; and 25% of Ionis' pelacarsen royalty payments. Under the terms of Ionis' exclusive licensing agreement with Biogen, Ionis is entitled to tiered royalties up to the mid-teens on annual worldwide net sales of SPINRAZA. Ionis' exclusive license agreement with Novartis entitles Ionis to receive tiered royalties in the mid-teens to low 20% range on net sales of pelacarsen.

Ionis also retains all rights to $650 million in pelacarsen development, regulatory and commercial milestones from Novartis.