SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. and NEWARK, Calif., July 28, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation (NYSE:MRX) (Medicis) and Revance Therapeutics, Inc. (Revance) today announced that the companies have entered into a license agreement granting Medicis worldwide aesthetic and dermatological rights to Revance's novel, investigational, injectable botulinum toxin type A product (RT002) currently in pre-clinical studies. The objective of the RT002 program is the development of a next-generation neurotoxin with favorable duration of effect and safety profiles.
Under the terms of the agreement, Medicis will pay Revance $10 million at signing, additional milestone payments totaling approximately $94 million upon successful completion of certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, and a royalty based on sales and supply price, the total of which is equivalent to a double-digit percentage of net sales. Other than the $10 million payment at signing, Medicis currently does not anticipate incurring research and development expenses related to this transaction in 2009, nor does the Company anticipate making milestone payments sooner than 2010. Revance will retain certain therapeutic rights to the product. Additional terms were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to announce this new opportunity with Revance," said Jonah Shacknai, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medicis. "As a market leader in aesthetic medicine, we are committed to providing our physicians with innovative and advanced technologies which can enhance the overall experience of their patients. Additionally, we continue to be excited about our recent entrance into the botulinum toxin market, and look forward to furthering our strong collaborative relationship with our partners at Ipsen."
"We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with Medicis," said Dan Browne, President and Chief Executive Officer of Revance. "Revance is committed to developing technology that has the potential to expand the aesthetic category through what we believe is a compelling pipeline of investigational botulinum toxin products that have favorable performance, safety and efficacy profiles."
About RT002
RT002 is an investigational, next-generation, injectable neurotoxin that integrates Revance's proprietary, purified botulinum toxin type A molecule with the patented TransMTS(TM) peptide technology. Pre-clinical data suggest that the TransMTS technology may enhance delivery of the drug to the target which may positively affect duration of effect and safety profiles.
According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, injections of botulinum toxin type A were the number one non-surgical procedure in 2008(1). Despite this popularity and relatively high rates of satisfaction, consumers want increased performance in terms of duration of effect.
