Marya Postner

Cooley advised Forbius – a clinical-stage protein engineering company that designs and develops biotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and fibrotic diseases – on its agreement to sell to Bristol Myers Squibb. Barbara Borden, Marya Postner and Rowook Park led the Cooley team advising Forbius. 

Cooley advised Sangamo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, in its global licensing collaboration agreement with Biogen for the development and commercialization of gene regulation therapies for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, neuromuscular and other neurological diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sangamo will receive $225 million from the purchase by Biogen of newly issued Sangamo stock as well as an upfront license fee of $125 million. Additionally, Sangamo is eligible to earn up to $2.37 billion in other development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, including up to $925 million in pre-approval milestone payments and up to $1.445 billion in first commercial sale and other sales-based milestone payments. Sangamo is also eligible to earn tiered high single-digit to sub-teen double-digit royalties on potential net commercial sales of products arising from the collaboration.

Cooley advised Jazz Pharmaceuticals, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying, developing and commercializing products that address unmet medical needs, in its exclusive license agreement with PharmaMar for lurbinectedin in the United States. Under the terms of this agreement, PharmaMar will receive an upfront payment of $200 million with potential regulatory milestone payments of up to $250 million upon the achievement of accelerated and/or full regulatory approval of lurbinectedin by FDA within certain timelines. PharmaMar is also eligible to receive up to $550 million in potential commercial milestone payments, as well as incremental tiered royalties on future net sales of lurbinectedin ranging from the high teens up to 30 percent.

Cooley advised GTx, a biopharmaceutical company, in its reverse merger with Oncternal Therapeutics in which the combined company will operate under the name Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc., and its shares will trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol “ONCT.” Under the terms of the agreement, all of Oncternal’s outstanding shares of common stock and securities convertible into or exercisable for Oncternal’s common stock were converted into GTx common stock and securities convertible into or exercisable for GTx common stock. Following the completion of the merger, the former stockholders of Oncternal held approximately 77.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the combined company. In addition to retaining an ownership interest representing approximately 22.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the combined company, the GTx stockholders of record as of immediately prior to the effective time of the merger received contingent value rights (CVR) entitling the holders to receive, in the aggregate, 75% of any net proceeds derived from the grant, sale or transfer of rights to GTx’s selective androgen receptor degrader (SARD) and selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) technology during the term of the CVR and, if applicable, to receive royalties on the sale of any SARD products by the combined company during the term of the CVR.