Arena Pharmaceuticals Enters $1.2 Billion Agreement With United Therapeutics

San Diego – November 30, 2018 – Cooley advised Arena Pharmaceuticals on its global license agreement with United Therapeutics for Arena’s drug candidate ralinepag, a next-generation treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Partners Barbara Borden, Kay Chandler and Steve Przesmicki led the Cooley team advising Arena on the agreement. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Arena will grant United exclusive, worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize ralinepag. Arena will receive up to $1.2 billion, including an upfront payment of $800 million and potential milestone payments totaling up to $400 million. Additionally, Arena will receive low double-digit tiered royalties on annual net sales of the product. 

“We are thrilled to partner with United Therapeutics, based on their longstanding, deep commitment to the PAH community,” said Amit D. Munshi, president and CEO Arena, in a news release. “This transaction represents a significant milestone in the development of ralinepag and will strategically position Arena to aggressively advance our best-in-class pipeline.”

Arena Pharmaceuticals, which trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ARNA,” is driven to deliver novel, transformational medicines with optimized pharmacology and pharmacokinetics to patients globally. Arena’s proprietary pipeline includes multiple potentially first- or best-in-class assets with broad clinical utility.

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